Maruaders in the Making
by Dredyn
Summary: MWPP. A werewolf child struggling for a normal life, a rebellious son desperate to escape his parent’s pureblood mania, a pampered boy wanting to cause mischief from the start and a boy longing for friends to look up to. My take on the Marauder’s lives.
1. Prologue

**Summary: **MWPP.A werewolf child struggling for a normal life, a rebellious son desperate to escape his parent's pureblood mania, a pampered boy wanting to cause mischief from the start and a boy longing for friends to look up to. My take on the Marauder's lives. Eventual AU.

I don't really like what I have to describe Peter, but I honestly cannot think of something better. Any suggestions are welcome.

**Disclaimer: **In no way do I own any of these characters except of the original ones you don't recognise, such as Melyssa Lupin and Penty. All other characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I do not mean to cause any problems with her or Bloomsbury Books, etc. This story is simply for people to read and (hopefully) enjoy.

* * *

**Marauder's In The Making.**

**Prologue**

John and Melyssa Lupin's lives couldn't seem to be able to get better. Their four year old son Remus was already showing how bright he was; forming words with building blocks, knowing when to stop asking for things, trying to read books all by himself. Their small cottage near the English Channel was surrounded with flowers, cheerful neighbours and an ancient forest off to the side of their town that was excellent for the little boy they cherished to exercise him.

John worked in London, and while having to travel between the large city and small town he lived in would have greatly annoyed most residents of his town, it didn't faze the brown haired man at all. Instead of taking a car and spending ninety minutes on the road in the morning and evening, he could just turn on the spot and with a small 'pop', appear in the Atrium of his work.

You see, the Lupins were not people who would be considered 'normal." They preferred to wear robes to the attire most people wore; they could get to most places they wished to be at with in a few seconds; they could wave a stick and the room they were in would be clean and tidy, to name just a few things.

Of course, the people that would call the Lupins' normal never would be able to. They didn't know John and Melyssa had been taught magic at a boarding school in Scotland, nor that in the September following their son's eleventh birthday he too would be taught. After all, who would believe the Lupins' were witches and wizards?

* * *

One particular evening, the family were all sitting in the living room, John reading about the latest Goblin Worker's Strike in the _Daily Prophet_, Melyssa writing a letter to her sister in France and Remus drawing at the table in his corner of the room.

Suddenly Remus' head snapped up.

"Papa!" He cried. "Motty's still outside! He's gon' get wet..."

John looked up from the paper to look at his son starring at him, worry covering the small child's face.

"Alright," John sighed. "Go get him."

Remus' eyes lit up with gratitude and he rushed outside to find the toy marmot he had had since birth.

"Motty?" He called as he waited for his eyes to adjust to the light the moon cast upon the garden. "Moooh-tee?"

The blonde boy quickly spotted the toy and rushed over to it, ready to scold it for not answering his calling when a low growling stopped the words in his mouth.

Slowly bending down to grab Motty, Remus looked around for the source of the growl, but say nothing unusual in the land around his house.

'_You're imagining things,'_ Remus thought. _'That or you forgot to feed Motty his lunch.'_

He smiled and hugged the toy before casting one last look at the silver orb hanging in the sky and turning around.

Then he screamed.

Standing before him was what looked to him like a large, wild dog. Its short snout was snarling, the flesh covering it bunched up in wrinkles that added to the wild look that gleamed in the creatures' eyes. Sharp, curved claws dug into the soft dirt as the paws slowly moved the beast forward, closer to the terrified boy.

The door of the Lupin household flew open and Remus' parents rushed out just in time to see the werewolf pounce on their son, its sharp teeth sinking into the screaming child's arm. John shot off a stunning spell that whizzed past the tufted tail of the werewolf, who noticed the two people standing with their wands out, more spells flying out the tips. It turned and sped off towards the forest, leaving Remus lying on the ground, tears pouring from his eyes just as fast as the blood that was beginning to soak into the ground.

Melyssa rushed forward to collapse on the ground next to her son and pull him into her arms.

"Melyssa?" Her husband asked, his voice shaky. "We need to get him to St Mungo's. I … I don't know enough healing magic to close the wounds. And he'll need a blood replenishing potion…"

Melyssa didn't seem to hear, she was too wrapped up in her son's fate. "Oh, Remus, my poor baby. My poor, poor baby…"

"Melyssa…" John said again. "We should go now. You take him; I'll grab the things we'll need."

Cradling the now unconscious boy to her, Melyssa turned and vanished with a pop, leaving nothing but the damp, red grass shining in the moonlight.

* * *

Far away, a small boy sat alone in his bedroom, massaging his arm.

"Penty?" He whispered into the darkness.

A cracking noise sounded in the room, followed by a high squeaking voice. "Yes, little master? Can Penty gets you a glass of warm milk before you goes to sleep?"

"No," The boy replied. "My arm hurts. Get me some No Pain potion."

"Yes, little master." The house elf said again. "Penty shall be rights back."

A second crack told him the elf had left and the boy leaned back against his pillow and began massaging his arm again.

Through his window, the full moon shone brightly.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Oh, how I didn't like writing this prologue. I ended up writing it in bits at a time so I wouldn't have to write little Remus getting bitten all at once. Poor Remus. I would much rather have had him get bitten at an older age, but J.K did say he was a small child when it happened.**

**Ten points and a cyber-cookie if you figure out who the small boy is. Not that I'll be say who just yet…**


	2. Chapter I

**Disclaimer: **In no way do I own any of these characters except of the original ones you don't recognise. All other characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I do not mean to cause any problems with her or Bloomsbury Books, etc. This story is simply for people to read and (hopefully) enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter I: ****Letters**

_'Yesterday I got a letter, from an old friend of mine. It had some words and a picture that would change your life.'_

A quiet knock pulled Remus out of his dreamless sleep and he opened his eyes as his mother walked into his room with a cup of tea in her hands.

"Morning, sweetie." She said softly. "It's about time you got up. Here, I brought you a drink."

Remus cracked a smile and took the cup. "Just a drink? No king sized bar of chocolate?"

"No," Melyssa returned her son's smile half-heartedly. "Just a drink. You got the chocolate yesterday."

"Eh... Worth a shot." The boy took a big sip of the tea and sighed in relief. Melyssa always knew just what herbs to add to make him feel better. The full moon was two nights ago, and Remus' body still ached from the strain the transformation put on him, but the tea removed a great deal of the pain.

"Thanks, Mum." He smiled again, trying to show his mother that he was better than he felt.

His parents felt terrible about the night seven years ago when he was bitten. It wasn't their fault; he was the one who had left his toy outside. So he always tried to make them feel better about it, pretending it didn't matter to him, cracking jokes about it when it was suitable. He was used to this life. He didn't like it, but he was used to it. And he had made it his duty to keep his parents believing he didn't care for it.

"You're welcome, Remmie." His mother stood up slowly from his bed, careful not to jolt it too much. "Come down for breakfast soon, I'm making waffles."

Remus licked his lips but before he could ask his question, Melyssa cut him off.

"Yes," She said, a real smile gracing her face. "Chocolate chip waffles."

The boy bounced out of bed, wincing slightly before resolving to move more slowly, even if that meant his mother's chocolate chip waffles would be further away.

"Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate chip waffles," He chanted as he followed his mother down the stairs.

Melyssa shook her head. "Honestly, Remmie. I mention chocolate and you start bouncing like you've got a dozen billywigs stinging you!"

Remus grinned and squeezed past Melyssa to run to his seat in the kitchen. Once he sat down he look up at his mother with a frown.

"My plate is empty."

The brunette rolled her eyes. "That because I haven't made anything yet. Just the mixture."

Remus covered his face with shock. "Well hurry up, woman. I'm hungry!" He joked.

Melyssa turned around from the counter to scold her son but found she couldn't when she saw him grinning impishly up at her.

"John, control that son of yours." She sighed.

John looked up from the _Daily Prophet_ to stare at his wife. "Well I would," He began. "Except I'm on his side. Bring me my waffles!" His voice had the same joking tone as Remus'.

"Boys…" Melyssa said, shaking her head in defeat to no one in particular. "Remmie, go get the mail while I start your waffles."

Remus nodded and slid out of his seat. He walked through to the hall and made his way toward the front door, where he picked up the letters on the floor and started rifling his way through them.

"EEEEEEEE!!" He squealed and ran back to the kitchen, not even noticing the pain it caused him. He skidded to a halt on the wooden floor, frantically waving the letters in his hand.

"I - I - I," He stammered, excitement stopping him from even speaking. After a couple more tries, he simply shoved the letters into his parent's hand.

"Melyssa, is that what I think it is?" John queried.

"Ye-yes..." Replied Melyssa, her stammering caused more by shock then excitement. "But how? His … Condition. Do they not know?"

"Open it and let us see." The man of the house said. "Before our son bursts out of his skin."

Melyssa nodded, opened the envelope and pulled out the parchment inside.

" '_Dear Mr Lupin_,' " She began. " _'We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term starts on 1 September. We await your owl by no later then 31 July. Due to your condition, we wish to see you and your parents before the term starts to discuss what shall happen each month. Yours sincerely, Minerva McGonagall. Deputy Headmistress.' "_

"I got in? I actually get to go to Hogwarts?" Remus couldn't believe it, and neither could his parents.

The Lupins were silent while this sunk in. Then the family started crying with joy.

'_I got in,_' Remus thought, over and over. '_I got in. I get to go to Hogwarts. I get to learn magic. I get to have friends.'_

* * *

James Potter zoomed down the stairs of Asylum, an envelope scrunched in his hand, a grin stretching across his face.

"Mum! Dad!" He yelled, his voice echoing around the entrance hall of his home. "Where are you?"

He waited for a response but when none came he groaned. Why did this house have to be so large? It was great most of the time, but as he had found when he was younger, the many rooms it held left too many places for people to be, and therefore finding his parents sometimes near impossible.

"Where could they be?" He murmured to himself. "Where could they be..?"

He cursed inwardly. It as a Friday afternoon! His parents were always in the library on a Friday afternoon. Daniel Potter would either be doing a crossword or reading about whatever historic event was interesting him that week, and Diane Potter would be reading the most recent Courtney Reid novel.

He grinned and rushed down the hall towards the library, the envelope still enclosed tightly in his hand. When he reached the door, he stopped running and waited for his heart and breathing to settle back to a regular pattern before opening the door and waling into the large room. Grabbing a book at random off the table, he sat down in one of the comfy chairs by the fireplace and opened it. _Trains of Britain_ the inside cover said. James put a look of interest on his face, flipped further into the book and began reading.

"You really do fail at nonchalance, dear." His mother said with a smile on her face.

The black haired boy pouted. He though he'd been doing quite well. Never mind though, he didn't need to wait any longer to tell the great news.

"I got the letter!" He beamed. "Hogwarts wants me."

"Of course they want you," said Daniel. "You're a Potter. It's about time another one started at Hogwarts. They probably need another mischief maker."

"Daniel! Don't encourage the boy." Dianne turned to her son. "He's right though. You will need to live up to the Potter name."

James laughed when a look of annoyance crossed his father's face.

"So you can encourage him but I can't? How is that fair?"

"It isn't," The raven haired woman replied, winking to her son as she did. "That's the point."

Daniel sighed. "Oh well. I can still do my part to help."

James was suddenly filled with hope.

"I guess it's time," His father continued. "For you to get the cloak that's been passed down through the generations."

The eleven year old's eyes flashed with excitement. _'Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes!'_ He chanted in his head.

Daniel stood up and walked over to the door. "Yes," he said, reaching for the handle. "The invisibility cloak is now yours."

* * *

"Sirius!" A quick, sharp voice floated up the staircase of the Black house. "Come downstairs now!"

The boy in question didn't even look up from the book he was reading. His parents probably just wanted him so they could tell him once again what a disappointment he is to the family and how he should start making himself better, more "proper" and "regal." He snorted. More like more stuck-up and pretentious.

"Sirius Black!" A deeper voice than the last one sounded. "Do not ignore your mother and get downstairs this instant!"

Sirius sighed and placed a bookmark between the pages he was looking at before standing up and walking to the door.

"Coming!" His voice was laced with false sweetness.

Closing his door carefully behind him (he didn't want to give his parents a reason to get rid of it), he made his way to the stairs and walked down slowly, lifting one foot at a time and placing it gently on the next step. He knew taking his time would make whatever was coming worse, but it didn't matter to him. It was going to be bad anyway.

When he reached the ground floor he almost tripped over the Blacks' latest house elf, Kreacher, who started mumbling to himself straight after Sirius' bare foot came in contact with the elf's wrinkly grey skin.

"Disrespective Master," He said. His voice was hoarse and sounded like a bullfrog. "Making Mistress wait. What did she do to deserve him? Ignoring what Mistress says, kicking Kreacher –"

"Shut up," Sirius growled.

Kreacher had been serving the Blacks for five years, and over that time he had become very attached to Walburga Black, and therefore thought how Sirius acted towards her was absolutely disrespectful.

"Yes, Mother? Father?" Sirius said in a toned down version of the sweet voice he had used earlier. "You called?"

Orion Black pointed at an envelope sitting on the table.

"You almost don't deserve that, you ungrateful little –"

Sirius blocked out his father's words, something he had learned to do years previous. He didn't want his parent's voices to ruin this moment. The tall boy picked up the envelope with his name and address written in green ink and opened it. He pulled out the letter and read it. Then he read it again. And again.

"I got in…" He couldn't believe his escape from this horrible home had finally come.

"Of course you got in, you stupid boy!" Walburga Black snapped. "You're a Black. Hogwarts would be honoured to have another Black grace them."

Sirius' happiness at receiving this letter was deflated slightly when he remembered what his parents proudly said whenever they could.

"Oh yes," They would say to people when it came up in conversation. "Our whole family has been in Slytherin."

'_No...'_ Sirius thought. _'Please, not Slytherin.'_

* * *

"I've set the table," A small, chubby boy said to his mother.

"Thanks, Peter," Leanne Pettigrew smiled at her son and went back to stirring the soup. "Where is that father of yours? He should be home by now…"

"Probably got held up again..." Her son said, trying and failing to open the cupboard without it creaking.

"Peter," Leanne warned. "I've told you before, and I'll tell you again. Don't eat this close to dinner. You'll spoil it."

Peter sighed and walked out of the kitchen, right into his father who was putting his coat and hat on the rack.

"Oops, sorry Dad." He mumbled.

"S'okay, son," Michael ruffled Peter's thin, mousy blonde hair. "After four years of this, I should be getting used to it." He walked through to the kitchen and wrapped his arms around his wife. "Hello, honey. Sorry I'm late; I lost a page I was writing for the paper. What's for dinner?"

"Hello, darling," Snuggling into her husband, Leanne put the mixing spoon down. "Chicken and corn soup. I'm about to dish it up. You hungry?"

"Indeed, I am. Table all set?"

"I just finished it, Dad." Peter said.

"Alrighty then, let's eat."

Peter grinned and rushed through to his seat at the table and his father followed suit, with Leanne walking slowly behind him, a pot of soup floating in front of her.

"What?" She asked upon seeing Michael's amused frown. "It's hot…"

Michael sighed but said nothing. He pulled out a chair for his wife and pushed it in once she had sat down. Grabbing the serving spoon, he began putting soup into bowls while Peter ripped some ciabatta bread off for everyone.

Twenty minutes later, the family had finished all they could eat and were talking about their day when Leanne suddenly jumped up.

"Oh my!" She said, pushing her seat in. "I forgot… Came in the mail... I would have given you it earlier, Peter, but I wanted your father to be home…"

"Given me what?" Peter asked, confused, but he received no answer, as his mother walked out of the dining room before he had finished his question. He looked to his father in the hope of getting an answer but Michael was just as confused.

The fair-haired witch soon came back into the dining room with an envelope in her hand.

"Here," She said, handing it to her son. "It came in the mail today."

Wide-eyed, Peter took the envelope from his mother and opened it. He took out the parchment inside, read it and began bouncing up and down in his seat, chanting "I'm a wizard" excitedly, over and over.

"Looks like he finally takes something after me," Leanne smirked at her muggle husband.

"Yes it does…" Michael said, grinning back. "Yes it does…"

**

* * *

**

A/N:

Firstly, yay. First chapter completed. I completely blanked on what to write for Peter though, hopefully its fine. However I did put effort into it. I even searched types of bread for the Pettigrew's to eat. For instance, did you know fougasse is a decorative bread from Provence? .o.

**Secondly, as you may have noticed, I'm writing more for Remus than the others, so this story is probably going to be focused mostly on him/from his point of view, even though I am trying for it to be about all the Marauders, not just him. I plan on working in bits for Lily and Severus (yes, Severus, not Snape. If I'm going to be writing for him, it'll be from his point of view, just like the rest of the characters and I hardly think he would refer to himself with his last name) but I don't know when those will appear.**

**Thirdly, this will have Remus and Sirius as a couple eventually. Not in their first or second year though, 11 and 12 is a bit young to come out and start dating the same gender, in my opinion. Protest**** against it if you wish, but this will not change as it will be important to where the story is going later on.**

**Fourthly, thanks for reading! Reviews are greatly appreciated and constructive criticism is welcomed.**

**I'll try upload again soon, but school will be start back next week, ugh, and homework will sadly take priority. Not that that's ever made me do it first, but maybe if I say it enough I'll eventually start doing it.**

**Or maybe not.**


	3. Chapter II

**Disclaimer: **In no way do I own any of these characters except of the original ones you don't recognise. All other characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I do not mean to cause any problems with her or Bloomsbury Books, etc. This story is simply for people to read and (hopefully) enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter II****: This Is It**

'_Let's have it all our way. Replace it with everything that we have made. We're counting the days and chasing the nights away. I'll leave this place with a smile on my face.'_

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hogwarts," Remus chanted, bouncing down the stairs. "Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hogwarts."

Two days had passed since he had received his letter and 'Hogwarts' was the word he'd used most since then. At first his parents had been fine with it; they themselves were thrilled Remus was going to be able to go to the world famous magic school, but his new found energy and constant chanting was beginning to wear thin.

"Remus…" John's voice was quiet, but the unspoken warning was heard, and the chanting stopped.

"Sorry Dad!" The small boy said sitting down on the couch to try stop moving so much. His leg was twitching, but that was the only thing moving so he ignored it. "I'm just…" Words failed him so he just exclaimed "Hogwarts!"

John sighed. Remus was quite intelligent for his age, so for him to be reduced to incomplete sentences showed how truly excited he was.

"I can come today, right?" Remus tried his best at puppy dog eyes. "Please, please, please?"

"You're not annoying your father, I hope." Melyssa said, walking into the living room with a basket of clean clothes. She put it on the ground and began folding them muggle-style, like she had before finding out she was magical.

"No ma'am," Remus shook his head furiously, letting energy escape him through that action. "Of course not."

"Ma'am? Since when have you called me ma'am?"

"Since I wanted to get into your good graces so I could come with you this afternoon?" Remus once again tried using puppy dog eyes, this time on his mother. "Pleeeeeease?"

"Well don't, it just makes me feel old." Cutting off her son's retort, she turned to her husband. "Have you not reminded him, John?"

John shrugged and grinned sheepishly. "I wanted to see how long he'd grovel for…"

Melyssa snorted.

"Reminded me what?" Remus looked back and forth between his parents.

"Professor Dumbledore wants to see you as well as us. It said on your acceptance letter."

Remus glared at his dad. "Just because I turn into a canine once a month doesn't mean you can make me grovel like a dog wanting to be fed."

He was pleased when his parents laughed. Really laughed, instead of the false ones they usually used when he made a joke about his lycanthropy. Maybe today won't be so bad, considering what was going to be brought up quite a lot.

'_What was going to be brought up in Dumbledore's office in Hogwarts.'_ Remus thought. _'I still can't believe I get to go.'_

* * *

"Hogwartsssss!" Remus squealed as he zoomed down the stairs, flying over the last five in his haste to get to the living room. He stopped in front of his mother and began bouncing on his toes.

Melyssa opened her mouth to speak, but the excitement in her son's eyes stopped her, so instead she just shepherded him to the fireplace. He didn't complain about having to floo like he usually did. Instead he placed his hand in the flowerpot, pulled out a handful of floo powder and threw it into the flames occupying the fireplace.

"Your father just left, he'll catch you if he needs to. Remember, "Headmasters Office, Hogwarts.'" Melyssa frowned. "What were you doing that held you up?"

Remus just grinned and stepped into the now emerald green flames. "Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts" He said loudly and clearly before vanishing in a roar of flames.

He was suddenly spinning extremely fast, fireplaces and the rooms behind them flickered with the green fire bordering them. The noise was deafening, the scream of fire made even louder by his sensitive hearing. He tried to see out the fireplaces and caught brief images; a cold stony room, a blue room with a statue to one side; a room filled with hundreds of house elves; and finally the room he was waiting for.

With a couple coughs, Remus tumbled out into large, circular room. The walls were covered with portraits of people, old Headmasters and Headmistress', Remus guessed. There was a small amount of silver devices on spindle-legged tables, some sitting still, others moving in some way, releasing smoke or humming. On a shelf behind the enormous, claw-footed desk that probably once dominated the room was a shabby, tattered wizard's hat.

"Quite a sight, isn't it, Remus?"

Remus nodded in awe and looked for the source of the sound and noticed a tall, thin man standing off to the side. He was dressed in long, purple robes and half-moon spectacles sat on his long crooked nose in front of light blue eyes that were bright and sparkling. He was very old, Remus already knew this, but his long silver hair and beard showed this fact quite well. He smiled welcomingly.

"Sherbet lemon?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, please." Remus answered. Sherbet lemons were his favourite sweet besides chocolate. He would often get it when he went to the dairy near his house and would try make it last as long as he could. He took a piece of it and placed a it in his mouth.

"Oomph."

Remus spun around to see his mother picking herself off the carpet. In the corner nearest the fire, John stood chuckling at her.

"Oh yes, like you do better, John." Melyssa glared at her husband.

"That's why I go first, dear." John replied, smiling. "Less people to have laugh at me."

"Melyssa!" Dumbledore greeted the witch with a handshake. "I haven't seen in you years. Still turning toasters into racoons?"

Melyssa smiled at her old transfiguration teacher. "Of course, Professor. Though John has begun to tire of furry bread. And congratulations on your new post are in order."

The old man's eyes twinkled. "Thank you. But enough chitchat," Dumbledore walked behind his desk and gestured to the seats in front of it before sitting himself. "It's time we discussed what is to happen with Remus each month." He pulled out a watch and checked the time. "Hmm, Madam Pomfrey should be here by now."

Almost as if speaking of her summoned her, a sharp knock sounded and Dumbledore called out for her to come in. The door opened and a middle aged woman walked through it.

"This is Poppy Pomfrey," Dumbledore spoke to the Lupin family. "She is the school Healer. Poppy, this is Melyssa, John and Remus Lupin." He pointed to each member as he said their name.

"Hello," The woman walked over to Remus and smiled warmly. "I've never treated a werewolf before. I'm so sorry for what you have to go through. You're a very brave boy."

Remus chuckled a little. "I'd only be a brave boy if I chose to go through it every month, ma'am. But I don't. This isn't something I'd wish on anyone."

"You're quite right." Madam Pomfrey turned to Dumbledore. "Have you gone over the plan?"

"I was just about to begin. Please, take a seat. You know I don't like people standing, Poppy."

Madam Pomfrey took a seat and Dumbledore began speaking once more.

"As you probably know, you will be the first werewolf to attend Hogwarts, Remus. Had I not became Headmaster, you wouldn't be. Before I go further, I must stress this point; you cannot tell anyone you are a werewolf. If it were to get out that I had taken in a werewolf, that I had supposedly risked students' lives unnecessarily, the outcry would have devastating consequences, and not just for the both of us. Do you understand? You must not tell anyone."

Remus nodded. "I'm fully aware of what would happen, sir. After I was bitten I began researching werewolves as soon as I could. My parents wished for me not to, but I needed to know."

"You'll do well at this school, Remus," Madam Pomfrey commented. "You're intelligent, polite; you'd make a good Ravenclaw."

"His house is not what we came here to discuss, Poppy." Dumbledore reached for the platter sitting on his desk. "Sherbet lemon? Remus seems as fond of them as I."

The medi-witch shook her head but Remus reached for another one tentatively.

Dumbledore didn't seem to notice and just resumed talking. "In order to keep students safe, I had a willow tree placed on the school ground. It covers a passageway to a house in the wizarding village just by school. Every month, Madam Pomfrey shall take you to the willow where you will go through the passage to the house on the other end. There's a bed for you to rest in before moonrise; I'm not sure whether you try to sleep before it, but it is there if you do."

"What's to stop students from finding out about the passage?" John asked.

"The willow placed about the passage is unlike most trees. It is … Violent, one might say."

"Violent?" Worry showed in Melyssa's eyes. "How will Remus get pass it then?"

"There is a notch on the tree," Dumbledore said. "A stick just needs to press it and the whole tree will freeze. The house has been boarded over and charmed so Remus will be unable to escape when in the lycan state. I assure you, as long as he is in the house, the students and the residents of Hogsmeade will be safe."

"Not from the tree, though," Madam Pomfrey said. "I've already had two students come to me with injuries from it, and it's only been planted a week!"

"Do not worry," The old wizard said calmly. "Term will be over soon, and you will have a whole summer with no students to deal with." He faced the Lupins. "All the teachers have been informed of you, and in terms of school work you will be allowed an extra two days for homework around the full moon for while you recover. Everything has been sorted, except for what you will have to tell your classmates."

"Do you have any ideas what I could say?"

"No, Remus," said Dumbledore. "I believe that should be something for you to think of. However maybe having a sick relative you have to visit occasionally would work for a small while, but this is something you will have to decide for yourself."

"Thank you so much, Professor Dumbledore." John spoke for the family. "This is an extremely kind and thoughtful thing to do, and I have no idea how we could ever repay you."

"It was nothing," Dumbledore smiled at the family. "You don't need to repay me at all, except, perhaps, by calling me Albus."

"Well thank you, Albus. Truly, thank you."

"You're quite welcome. And Remus?" The wizard spoke to the youngest Lupin as the magical family stood to leave. "On September 5th would you please be at the Hospital Wing by five pm. Poppy will give you your dinner and then take you to the willow while everyone else is having theirs. Try you hardest not to be seen going to the Hospital Wing, however this may be a difficult feat, so it is not essential. Have a good afternoon."

The Lupins each said goodbye, walked to the fireplace and one by one disappeared through emerald green flames.

* * *

Diagon Alley.

It never failed to amaze Sirius. The apothecary, with its windows displaying eel's eyes and horned slugs and snake fangs; the stacks of cauldrons outside one shop, robes hanging through the doors of another. Eeylops Owl Emporium sat on one side with hooting coming from inside its dark interior and Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour, the newest shop to open on Diagon Alley, stood opposite. The stores seemed to extend forever.

In his hand was a bag of robes. He had just left Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and he now stood in front of Flourish and Blotts. His mother was in the Apothecary getting potions supplies and his father and younger brother were getting his telescope, brass scales and crystal phials.

Sirius walked through the doors into one of his favourite stores in the wizarding mall. The walls were covered with books, the shelves stacked from floor to ceiling. Several freestanding shelves divided the store into columns and at the top of each shelf a wooden plaque said which category the books belonged to.

The eleven year old boy breathed in the scent of leather bound books and walked towards the Transfiguration section. He picked off _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_ and placed it in the basket he had grabbed upon entering, and then looked at some of the other titles on the shelf. He was drawn to a book simply titled _Animagi_ and picked it up. He knew what an animagus was, a person who could transform into a certain animal at will, but that was all. He flipped through it and went to place it back on the shelf when he got the feeling that it would come in handy at some point.

He didn't know why, but he occasionally got the unexplainable feeling of things he should do, and he had always followed it without question. It had helped him in the past, told him what he should do to avoid things, or just to tell him something was coming. So when he got the feeling to put it in the basket he did. He would pay for it himself if he had to. He had the money.

He spent the next half hour in the bookstore, grabbing the rest of the books needed, along with several empty ones to write notes in. When he realised his parents weren't coming he put _1001 Charms_ in the now heavy basket and walked to the counter and paid. The man behind the counter placed the books in two bags and handed them to Sirius, who thanked him and walked out of the store.

Sirius checked the stationary list and grinned. All that was left was a wand. He set off towards Ollivanders, one of the few shops in Diagon Alley he had never been in. Once he found the store he wasted no time waiting outside and just walked straight in.

It was a small shop, and like Flourish and Blotts the walls were covered, however instead of books it was boxes on narrow boxes piled neatly reaching to the ceiling. Four people already occupied the room; a man and woman were standing back from a boy with light brown hair and sky blue eyes that shone even in the gloom of the shop. An old man who Sirius could only assume was Mr Ollivander stood in front of the boy, who was cross-eyed as he stared at the tape measure that was seeing how wide the bridge of his nose was.

"Good afternoon," Mr Ollivander said when he noticed Sirius standing in the doorway. "Why don't you come over here, I can do you both at the same time." His voice was soft and made Sirius feel like he was in a library.

Sirius walked over and stopped next to the other boy. Mr Ollivander stopped the measuring tape, which was not trying to see how long the boy's thumbnail was and moved it onto Sirius.

"Which is your wand arm?" Mr Ollivander asked. Sirius held out his left and the wandmaker began measuring. "Got all your gear for school?"

"Yes," Sirius said. "Well, my parents are getting something, so if they remember what to get I will. I have my books and robes though."

"That's good. There's nothing like getting your first set of Hogwarts books." The measuring tape stopped doing its job and flew to Mr Ollivanders pocket. "I will be right back with some wands for the two of you to try."

Mr Ollivander walked to the back of the shop and disappeared. The other boy turned to face Sirius, smiled and held out his hand.

"Hello, I'm Remus," He said. "Remus Lupin."

"Sirius Black" Sirius said, taking Remus' hand. "They both released their hold quite quickly when they were zapped with static.

"Why aren't your parents with you?" Remus asked. "Getting your wand is a pretty big thing."

"Oh, they're off doing other things." Sirius replied. "I'm fine with this though. Their not being here is a good birthday present for me." He saw the confusion of the other three's faces and quickly added "We're not exactly on great term with each other…"

Mr Ollivander took this moment to return and both boys turned to face him. In his hands where half a dozen boxes which he placed on the counter before opening two. He pulled out the wands and handed one each to the two boys.

"Rosewood, unicorn hair, nine inches. Quite bendy," He handed this wand to Remus. "And this one is chestnut, dragon heartstring, eleven inches. Rather brittle," He gave this one to Sirius. "Give them a wave…"

Both boys looked at each other. Sirius shrugged and gave his a wave. Remus did the same but neither wand did anything.

"Okay, there's nothing wrong with that. Swap them over and try again."

The wands swapped hands and the two waved the wands again. Again nothing happened and Mr Ollivander took the wands and placed them back in their box. He pulled out another two and handed them to Remus and Sirius. Remus's still did nothing, but when Sirius waved his a bouquet of flowers burst from the tip. Remus and his parents gasped and Mr Ollivander applauded.

"Very nice, my boy," He said as he conjured a vase to place the flowers in. "Quite a good wand, if I do say so myself. Oak, thirteen inches, phoenix feather. Quite springy."

Sirius grinned and handed the wand to Mr Ollivander so he could wrap it up.

"Well done," Remus smiled at Sirius. "They're pretty."

"Thanks. I wonder what yours will do."

Sirius handed seven Galleons over the counter and took the wrapped box from the wandmaker. Remus was then given another wand and waved it but still nothing happened. He went through several more wands and began to look worried.

"What if I can't find a wand?" He whispered to his mother. "What if," He hesitated before continuing. "Something is stopping me from getting one?"

His mother squeezed his shoulder gently. "Nothing is wrong with you, Remmie. It took me a while to find my wand too."

"She's right," Mr Ollivander said. "It's quite unusual for a wand to be found quickly. Here, try this one. Elder, phoenix feather, supple. 12 ½ inches."

Remus took the wand and a smile appeared on his face. "It's warm!" He said excitedly. He swished it through the air and the counter suddenly grew brighter in colour.

"There we go." Mr Ollivander's silver eyes shone. "And thank you for dusting my counter. I've been meaning to do that for a while."

Sirius patted Remus in the back and smiled. "Now you can help your mum clean the house."

Remus's mother chuckled when the brown haired boy groaned dramatically. "It's not like you don't anyway, Remus."

Remus just mumbled a reply that Sirius couldn't catch.

Remus's father handed over the money to Mr Ollivander and turned to Sirius. "Seeing as your parents haven't turned up yet, how about you come with us to the ice-cream parlour? Our treat. You can think of it as a birthday present."

Oh, no. I couldn't." Sirius was touched by their kindness. "I just met you all. It would be rude to have you buy me something."

"Not at all," The wizard replied. "I'm John, by the way. And this is my wife Melyssa."

"Come on," Melyssa said. "It's nothing."

Sirius smiled at the family he suddenly wished his was like and walked out of the wand shop with them, thinking of what flavour ice-cream he would get.

**

* * *

**

Woo second chapter woo.

**I quite like how I'm writing John. He amuses me. **

**10 points for those who can tell me what three rooms Remus saw while flooing were. They're all rooms in Hogwarts.**

**Reviews**

**Chocolatangel: **Yay. Thank you so much. You're my first review, made me feel quite special. =] James and Sirius will be friends right from when they met, like it's shown in HP7, and Remus and Sirius have already met now, so that will add to those three being friends. How Peter (who I notice you didn't comment on at all. =P) will become friends with them, I'm not fully sure.

**Strange Magic: **Thanks! I've little planned for their years at Hogwarts, though. After they leave I have many ideas though. Not too helpful at the time, however. I am getting more ideas as I write, which is good though. =] And yeah, first and second year relationships are a little creepy.. There'll probably be some relationships, but it'll just be how those usually are at that age. So pretty much just hand holding and quick kisses. Who with who though, I have no clue. =B

**XxForest-DragonxX: **Thank you. =]


	4. Chapter III

**Disclaimer: **In no way do I own any of these characters except of the original ones you don't recognise. All other characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I do not mean to cause any problems with her or Bloomsbury Books, etc. This story is simply for people to read and (hopefully) enjoy. Any dialogue you recognise was not written by me, it was written by, and belongs to, J.K. Rowling.

* * *

**Chapter II****I: All On Our Own**

'_All my life I've been caged in, kept away from the storm. Silver spoons and crimson moons are all I have here to show.'_

Lily Evans gripped the trolley holding her trunk tightly and stared at the solid wall between platforms nine and ten. According to both Sev and the Ministry of Magic official that explained Hogwarts to her family, all she had to do was run straight into the wall to get to Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Easy-peasy.

"Um… Mum?" He worry showed in both her face and voice.

"Don't be scared, honey," Rose said. "That's what the official said. And your father and sister are waiting on the other side."

Lily nodded and turned her attention back to the wall.

'_Okay__,'_ she thought. _'Three…' _She put one foot forward _'Two…'_ She gave her trolley a small push forward. _'One!'_

Lily ran forward, staring straight at the wall. She half expected it to be solid, for her to crash into it and hurt herself badly but then, like a mirage wavering out of existence, the wall disappeared and she found herself on Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

A smile broke onto her face as she looked around. A scarlet steam engine dominated the scene, but only just. Mothers, fathers, daughters, sons. The platform was packed with people seeing family and friends off. Cats of every colour walked between the legs of people or meowed from their owners' arms while owls perched in cages contributed a soft hooting base to the melody of voices filling the area. Severus, her best friend, stood not far away. He smiled and waved excitedly.

Lily's father walked towards her and took the trolley, freeing her up so she could rush to her sister.

"Tuney!"

Petunia turned around. Her face was mixed with several different emotions.

"Isn't this amazing?" Lily asked. "I'm going to Hogwarts!"

"Yeah," her older sister grumbled. "Amazing."

"Tuney? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong!" Petunia snapped. "Everything is right with the world!"

Lily glanced at her father, who had now been joined by her mother. They were both looking around the platform, obviously enjoying the sights.

"It's because I'm going, isn't it? Because I am, and you aren't?"

Petunia looked at her sister, hurt covering her face. Lily grabbed her sister's hand and held it to her. Petunia tried to pull away but Lily held her tight.

"I'm sorry, Tuney, I'm sorry! Listen, maybe once I'm there – no, listen, Tuney! Maybe once I'm there I'll be able to go to Professor Dumbledore and persuade him to change his mind!"

"I don't - want - to - go!" Petunia tried to pull her hand out of Lily's hands. "You think I want to go to some stupid castle and learn to be a - a -"

She looked around the platform, taking in the cats and owls, the trunks, the train, the people in long flowing robes.

"- You think I want to be a - a _freak_?"

"I'm not a freak." Lily's eyes filled with tears and Petunia managed to pull her hand away. "That's a horrible thing to say."

"That's where you're going," Petunia said. "A special school for freaks. You and that Snape boy … Weirdos, that's what you two are. It's a good thing you're being seperated from normal people. It's for our own safety."

Lily flicked her eyes to her parents and back to her sister.

"You didn't think it was such a freaks school when you wrote to the Headmaster and begged him to take you." Her voice was low and fierce.

"Beg? I didn't beg!"

"I saw his reply," said Lily. "It was very kind."

"You shouldn't have read -" Petunia's voice was a whisper. "That was my private – how could you?"

Lily half glanced at Severus. Her sister gasped.

"That boy found it! You and that boy have been sneaking in my room!"

"No - not sneaking - Severus saw the envelope, and he couldn't believe a muggle could have contacted Hogwarts, that's all!" Lily wished desperately she would be believed. "He says there must be wizards working undercover in the postal service who take care of -"

"Apparently wizards poke their noses in everywhere!" Petunia burst in angrily. "_Freak!_"

She went to stand by her parents, leaving Lily staring after her. Her father rushed over to her, and made it just before the eleven year old girl burst into tears.

"Aww, c'mere, Lily," Damien pulled his daughter into his arms. "It's okay, don't listen to Tuney. She's just upset you're leaving her. You know how close you two are."

"But… But…" Lily wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "She hates me!"

"No she doesn't," Damien kissed her forehead. "She doesn't hate you. She may think she does, but she doesn't."

The red headed girl nodded and slipped out of her father's arms.

"Thanks, Dad," she said. "I'm going to say goodbye to Mum."

Fifteen minutes later Lily sat on the Hogwarts Express staring out the window at the countryside that was flashing past. Three other boys occupied the compartment, but she paid little attention to them; and they had stopped asking what was wrong when she continued not to answer.

"Probably just never been away from home for ages," As one of them had said.

Lily looked up when someone say down opposite her. It was Severus.

"I don't want to talk to you," she said and looked back out the window.

"Why not?"

"Tuney h - hates me. Because we saw the letter from Dumbledore."

"So what?"

Lily glared at Severus. "So she's my sister!"

"She's only a -" He stopped talking quickly but Lily was too busy wiping her eyes and didn't notice. He changed the conversation.

"But we're going!" His voice was filled with excitement. "This is it! We're off to Hogwarts!"

Lily nodded and smiled while she continued to wipe her eyes.

"You better be in Slytherin."

One of the boys looked at Severus.

"Slytherin?" He said. "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

The last question was directed at the boy sitting opposite him. The boy didn't smile and said rather sadly "My whole family have been in Slytherin."

Lily matched the voices with the names they had said earlier. The first boy who had spoken was James, and the other Sirius. Which left the third boy, if her memory was correct, to be Alec.

"Blimey," James said. "And I thought you seemed alright!"

"Maybe I'll break tradition," Sirius grinned. "Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"

James raised an invisible sword.

"'_Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!'_ Like my dad."

Severus made a small noise at this and James turned to face him.

"Got a problem with that?"

"No," Severus said sarcastically. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy -"

"Where are you hoping to go," Sirius interrupted. "Seeing as you're neither?"

Lily stood up and looked at Sirius and James, who was roaring with laughter, with dislike.

"Come on, Severus" She said. "Let's find another compartment."

"Oooooo…"

James tried to trip Severus as he passed. Severus turned and glared at the messy haired boy before slamming the compartment door shut.

"See ya, Snivellus!" One of the boys called after them.

"Just forget them, Sev." Lily said. "Come on, this compartment looks empty."

The two kids walked into the compartment, dragging their trunks behind them. Aside from a boy with light brown hair that was staring out the window, there was no one in it. When Severus closed the door, the boy looked at them and smiled.

"Hello," he said.

Lily smiled at hello but Severus didn't notice and just began grumbling.

"Who do they think they are? Treating strangers like that. _Strangers._ I hope they're not in my house. They better not be…"

"I think one was called James." Lily answered the black haired boy's rhetorical question. "The cute one with the messy hair. And the other one, the one that insulted you was Siberius or Cereal or -"

"Sirius?" The boy suggested.

"Yes!" Lily smiled at him again. "Do you know him?"

"Yes, I - we met in June." He looked down at the floor for a few moments. "Do you know where he is? He's the only person I know here and … It'd be nice to see a familiar face."

Severus looked at the boy for the first time since entering the compartment.

"You want to be friends with him? He's horrible!"

The boy frowned. "He was nice enough when we met. Could you just tell me where he is though?"

Severus grumbled something that sounded like "suit yourself" but Lily gave him the instructions. The boy smiled a thanks and left, leaving Lily and Severus to themselves. Lily sat down on one side and Severus stretched out on the other.

"This is better," he said. A smile formed on his face. "We're finally going! Hogwarts. This evening!"

Lily smiled back.

"Hogwarts." She repeated.

* * *

For the third time that morning, the door of the compartment James occupied slid open. This time a boy stood awkwardly in the doorway. He smiled nervously and shifted his weight to the other foot.

"Remus!" Sirius exclaimed. "Come in, sit down."

"Hi Sirius," Remus said.

He walked further in and Sirius stood up to help him with his trunk. When it was out of the way, the two sat down. Sirius back next to James and Remus next to Alec.

"Hello," James said. "I'm James, James Potter. And this is Alec."

Alec nodded hello and the movement sent his brown fringe into his hazel eyes.

"Nice, mate," James chuckled a little.

Alec sent him a brief glare then turned to Remus.

"Hi," he said. As James just said, I'm Alec."

"Nice to meet you. You too, James. I'm Remus."

"Really?" James asked. "I thought Sirius was just swearing or something when he said that…"

Alec laughed at the frown that appeared on Remus' face.

"Don't mind him," He said. "He occasionally gets like that. You'll get used to it."

"Do you three all know each other?" The werewolf questioned.

"No," James replied as he ran a hand through his already messy black hair. "Just me and Alec. We grew up next door to each other."

"It also helps that our mothers are sisters, Jimmy."

"Al!" James threw a Bertie Bott's bean at Alec. "Stop calling me Jimmy!"

"Sure thing, Jim."

James growled at Alec, who simply grinned wolfishly and picked up the Bertie Bott's bean off his lap and placed it in his mouth.

"Bleugh, soy sauce."

Remus and Sirius laughed and James stuck his tongue out at his cousin.

"How do you and Remus know each other?" James asked Sirius as he searched for a safe coloured bean to take.

"Oi!" Alec yelled. "Did you ask if you could have one?"

James smirked and popped a green one in his mouth.

"Nope."

Sirius rolled his eyes and answered James' question.

"We met in Ollivanders in June. My family wasn't with me so Remus' father suggested I go to Florean's with them afterwards."

"Oh," Remus said. "What happened when you left? Your mother seemed pretty mad…"

"Nothing, Mum and Dad just yelled at me more when we got home. I thought Dad was going pop a blood vessel or something."

James was shocked at how normal Sirius seemed about his parents yelling at him. His parents never yelled at him, unless it was about something he and Alec may have done that could have endangered them. Sirius must have noticed James' face because he then added more.

"My parent's are complete pureblood fanatics. They think being a Black makes them royalty and all muggles and muggleborns are the scum of the earth. It's horrible. They were freaking out because I don't know Remus' ancestry and for all I know he could be muggleborn (of course, they used a much worse word) and my associating with him could bring shame to the family, blah, blah, blah. I was so glad when I got my letter."

"Blimey. No offence, but your family sounds horrible." James shuddered at the thought of growing up with that kind of family.

"None taken," Sirius gestured to the beans and when Alec nodded he took one. "I try to tell them that myself when I can."

The conversation then turned to the rest of the four boy's families and as the train continued to speed through the country it the boys spoke of other things; Quidditch, what they thought their first year at school would be like, their childhood, Quidditch. James noticed that whenever the topic of their childhood came up Remus would go suddenly quiet or mumble his sentences.

Around lunch time a woman pushing a trolley appeared at their compartment door.

"Want anything off the trolley?" She asked.

All four boys looked at the woman, their eyes alight with hunger. They stood up and began getting things. Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Acid Pops, Pumpkin Pasties and more were put on the small table next to the window before they pooled their money together to pay for it all.

"That was good timing," James said after the woman had dragged her trolley away. "There's one bean left in Alec's box and I think it might be salmon..."

"They would've have last longer," said Alec. "If you hadn't insisted on eating four at a time, James."

"What? They taste better that way."

"Yes," Sirius sarcastically agreed. "Pepper, strawberry, roast lamb and grass at the same time really would taste _better_."

"Shut up, Sirius," James said absently as he opened a chocolate frog.

"No, I don't think I will," Sirius replied. "I'm rather in love with the sound of my own voice, you see."

James just rolled his eyes.

* * *

The sky was a deep purple by the time the train pulled into Hogsmeade Station. Alec, James, Remus and Sirius joined the rest of the students getting off the train and soon stood on the platform in their new school robes trying to find a glimpse of the school they were to call home for the next seven years of their life.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" A deep voice sounded over the babble of students. "Firs' years follow me!"

James looked around for the source of the voice and spotted a man's face that was illuminated by the lantern that swung above the heads of the crowd. The man calling out for first years was twice the size of everyone standing around him. His face was almost hidden by his wild hair and messy, tangled beard.

The large man set off once he had a group of children standing around him. Sirius took the lead of the four boys and was soon at the front of the mass, right behind the giant.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," he called over his shoulder. "An' watch yer step."

The steep, narrow path they had been following turned around a bend and there was a loud "Oooooh!"

Not far ahead of them was a large black lake with little boats floating at the shore. On the other side at the top of a high mountain was an enormous castle with towers and turrets sticking out from all sides.

"No more than four to a boat!" The giant called again. "And I'm Hagrid. Keeper of Keys and Grounds here."

Alec, James, Remus and Sirius climbed into a boat and with a shout of "Forward!" from Hagrid, the boats set off, sliding over the surface of the lake smoothly. Everyone was staring up at the castle, too amazed by it to speak. As the boats drew closer, people began to crane their necks to try and keep looking.

"Heads down!" Hagrid cried out as the first set of boats reached the cliff Hogwarts stood on. Everyone bent their heads and they drifted through a curtain of ivy into a long dark tunnel. The boats stopped in an underground harbour and the students climbed out of them. They followed Hagrid up a passageway to a lawn that rested in the shadow of Hogwarts where Hagrid walked to a huge oak door and knocked three times.

* * *

The front door swung open. A tall woman stood on the other side of the threshold. She had black hair and was wearing emerald-green robes.

"Thank you, Hagrid." She said and opened the door further. The first years all walked inside a large entrance hall. The stone walls held flaming torches and stretched to a ceiling that couldn't be seen. A marble staircase was opposite them.

They followed the witch into a small room off the hall and stood close to each other.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said. "I am Professor McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher here. The start-of-term feast will begin soon, but before you take your seats you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting Ceremony is very important because your house will be like your family while at Hogwarts. You will have classes with your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend your free time in your house common-room.

"The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has a history, and each has produced witches and wizards who have excelled greatly in their life. While you attend this school, your triumphs will earn your house points and any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will win the house cup.

"The Sorting will start in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly."

Professor McGonagall left the room and Sirius turned to Remus.

"Are you nervous?" He asked.

Remus nodded, afraid to open his mouth to speak.

"I wonder how we'll be sorted…" Alec said.

"Magic tricks," Sirius answered. "Muggle-style. Whoever can pull a coin from behind Professor Dumbledore's ear gets in Gryffindor. Whoever can pull the correct card from the middle of a deck of cards gets in Ravenclaw and so on.

James' reply to this was stopped by the reappearance of Professor McGonagall.

"We are ready now," she said. "So form a line and follow me."

The first years did as instructed and followed Professor McGonagall back into the Entrance Hall and through the double doors to the right, into the Great Hall.

There were five tables in the hall. Four sat in the middle of the room, and the rest of the school sat at the tables staring at the new students. The fifth was at the top of the hall and the teachers sat at it, with Professor Dumbledore in the middle. The room was lit by thousands of candles that were floating beneath a black ceiling that looked like it was covered with silver stars. The view was so convincing Sirius almost thought there was no ceiling at all.

They stopped at the top of the hall and Professor McGonagall placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of it she placed an old, fraying wizard's hat

"And if you pull out a rabbit from that," Sirius mumbled. "You get placed in Hufflepuff."

James sniggered and nudged Sirius with his elbow. Sirius looked at the boy who nodded in Professor McGonagall's direction. He looked at her to find her giving him a stern look. He zipped his mouth and turned his attention to the hat, which suddenly began to sing.

"_When Hogwarts first was founded_

_and I was oh, so new,_

_The founders four could not have seen_

_an up and coming feud._

_Gryffindor and Slytherin_

_Were once the greatest friends_

_And Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw_

_Were close until the end_

_So how this feud did come about_

_It is such a great tale._

_Of magic, secrets, ancestry._

_Of friendships and betrayal._

_For several years the founders lived_

_In peace and harmony._

_Choosing those most like themselves_

_Placed in their house by me._

_The bravest students Gryffindor took_

_To teach all that he knew._

_And those placed in Hufflepuff_

_Were patient, just and true._

_Ravenclaw had those whose wit_

_Stood out amongst the lot._

_And purebloods filled with great ambition_

_Are those that Slytherin got._

_Discord soon crept amongst them._

_Yes, there came a clash of view._

_And this, my friends, is where it starts_

_The Tale of the Feud._

_Power-hungry Slytherin,_

_A man who could speak snake,_

_Would soon go down in history_

_As a man of muggleborn hate._

"_Just the purebloods," he would say._

"_No muggleborns for us!_

_To keep the bloodlines in this school clean,_

_Oh, this surely is a must."_

"_These young ones need to be taught,"_

_Ravenclaw declared._

"_Regardless of their ancestry_

_These children belong here!"_

_Gryffindor and Hufflepuff_

_Agreed with Ravenclaw._

_So Slytherin packed up and left_

_For he could take no more._

_Before he left, as legend says,_

_He made a secret chamber._

_A chamber in which lying was_

_A terrible hidden danger._

_But that was then, and this is now_

_That time has been and gone._

_I'm all that's left, so put me on_

_And find out where you belong."_

The entire school burst into applause when the hat stopped singing. When the applause died down, Professor McGonagall stepped forward with a long roll of parchment in her hand.

"When I call your name," She said. "You will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted. Abbott, Gabriel!"

A boy with blonde hair walked forward nervously and picked up the hat. He put it on and sat down. The hat covered his eyes and a few seconds later it cried out:

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

The table on the right started clapping and Gabriel took off the hat, placed it back on the stool and went to sit at the Hufflepuff table.

Charlene Andrews became a Hufflepuff as well, then Amelia Badgely became a Ravenclaw.

"Black, Sirius!"

Remus patted Sirius on the back and gave him an encouraging smile. Sirius tried to smile back but couldn't, so he just walked toward the stool, picked up the hat, sat down and allowed the hat to cover his eyes.

"Pull a rabbit out of me, hmm?" It whispered in his ear. "Yes, I did hear that little jibe. Perhaps I should put you in Hufflepuff. Make a rabbit out of _you_."

Sirius swallowed.

"Only kidding, that would hardly be fair, which is what that house is about. Perhaps Slytherin, with the rest of your family. Then again, you seem very intelligent. Ravenclaw would be lucky to have you."

Sirius grinned at this comment.

"You're quite brave, also. To be how you are to your parents. What to choose, what to choose…"

Sirius crossed his fingers, hoping that the hat would not yell Slytherin. His face burst into a grin when the hat shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" and he took off the hat and rushed to the table that was applauding loudest.

He sat down on the bench and turned face the rest of the first years. James and Remus were looking at him and gave him the thumbs up. Now he had to wait for the rest to be sorted.

* * *

When Anthony Davis was called, that was when Lily got really nervous.

'_I'm probably going to be next,'_ she thought. She wished she'd eaten something. She felt like she was going to faint.

"RAVENCLAW!" The hat shouted.

McGonagall looked at the parchment.

"Evans, Lily!"

"Good luck!" Sev whispered to her.

"Thanks" she whispered back.

"This isn't a hard decision," said a voice in Lily's ear. "GRYFFINDOR!"

Lily took off the hat and looked for Severus in the crowd. She spotted him and smiled apologetically before rushing off to the Gryffindor table. A person moved up the bench to make room for her and she turned to say thank you when she realised it was Sirius. She sent a quick glare to him and then crossed her arms and turned to watch the rest of the Sorting Ceremony.

When "Lupin, Remus" was called, she recognised the light brown haired boy from the train walk slowly to the stool.

* * *

Remus stood anxiously next to James and Alec, waiting for his name to be called. All the while worrying about what would happen.

'_What if I can't be placed in a house?' _He kept thinking. _'I'm a werewolf, for Merlin's sake! What house would want me? Slytherin? A dark house for a dark creature? No! I'm not dark. I didn't choose this. I didn't pick to be a werewolf. But if I'm not a dark creature, I won't be placed in Slytherin, will I? That's good, right? But…Then what house would I be in?'_

Alec tapped him on the shoulder.

"McGonagall just said your name."

Remus was sure his face was red with embarrassment. He rushed forward and sat down on the seat, pulling the hat over his eyes to hide his face.

"A werewolf?" The Sorting Hat whispered after a few terrifying moments of silence. "Well this certainly is new. You're intelligent, that's for sure. And courageous. You'd have to be very courageous to go through that transformation each month. Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, Remus? You didn't get to choose one of the most important things about you, so choose this one instead."

'_Gryffindor,'_ Remus thought. _'Gryffindor with Sirius.'_

"Very well," The Hat said. "GRYFFINDOR!"

Remus smiled and got off the stool as Sirius wolf whistled. He chuckled at the appropriateness and went to sit next to his friend.

"Congrats," Sirius said.

"Thanks," Remus replied. "You too."

"Alec should be soon…"

Both boys crossed their fingers when "McDowell, Alec!" was called out. The hat was on Alec's head for nearly a minute before crying out "RAVENCLAW!" Remus and Sirius groaned. Alec sat behind them, across the aisle at the Ravenclaw table.

"Congrats, Alec," Sirius said. "Too bad you're not in our house."

"Yeah," Alec replied. "We'll still see each other though. In fact, I think a change of colour is in order."

Sirius and Remus frowned.

"What? A change of -- Whoa!"

* * *

"Peter, Pettigrew!"

Peter blinked. It was his turn. Almost in a daze, he walked forward and took the hat out of Vanessa Peregrym's ("SLYTHERIN!") hands. He put it on with shaking hands.

"Nervous, are you? That's perfectly normal. You're a difficult decision. I can see things in you even you can't see yet. Which house would best cater to those needs though? I'd have to say… GRYFFINDOR!"

Peter pulled off the hat and stood up. He placed it on the seat and walked towards the Gryffindor table as "Potter, James!" was called. He sat down next to a girl in his year with dark red hair just in time to see James sit down on the seat. He didn't have time to get comfortable though, as the hat yelled "GRYFFINDOR!" as soon as it touched his head.

James pulled off the hat, grinned and walked to sit opposite two of the boys he was standing with in line.

"Hey guys," He said to them. "Too bad about Alec, huh?"

"Yeah, about Alec…" Sirius said.

"What's with his eyes?" Remus asked. "They were hazel and now they're a really awesome blue. He won't answer us."

"Ooh. He's a partial metamorphmagus." James laughed. "He can change his eyes and hair. He likes to freak people out with it."

* * *

"Snape, Severus!" Professor McGonagall called.

"Wooo!"

"Go Snivellus!"

Severus walked up to the stool, ignoring the calls of people from the Gryffindor table. He picked up the hat, sat down and took a glance at Lily. She smiled and he let the hat slide over his eyes.

"Slytherin is the first thing that comes to mind for you." The Sorting Hat whispered in his ear. "But you're determined to be with that girl."

"No," Severus whispered. "I don't want to be in Gryffindor."

"Well then, it seems your choice has been made then. SLYTHERIN!"

Severus grinned and took off the hat. He placed it back on the stool and walked towards the cheering table of Slytherins, to the opposite side of the Great Hall from Lily.

* * *

**Wow, long chapter.**** Short Sorting bits 'cause my brain has died from lack of sleep (six or seven hours sleep in the last sixty seven and a half hours) and long bits would make it too long.**

**I'm so glad they're at Hogwarts now. I won't have to worry about people not knowing who's who. So I won't needa do the "the boy said" kind of things like I did when Lily and Sev entered Remus' compartment.**

**I'm so proud of the Sorting Hat's Song. I wrote it before after finishing chapter two to give me motivation to write this chapter. That shouldn't really have worked though. Writing the song was probably the best part of writing this chapter, and since I sort of got it out of the way early, it got rid of the want to write it… o_O**

**Thanks for reading! =]**

**Reviews**

**Latinanewschic****:** Thank you. Two out of three. Not the potions room.

**BLAHBLOT:** John is fun to write. And wooo. Failed nonchalance for the win. =D

**XxForest-DragonxX:** Yeah!! And wait no longer, they're at Hogwarts now. Classes begin next chapter, don't be late. :|

**Bottlebrush: **Yeah, Remus being bitten is horrible to read and write. But it has to happen, or else … Wow so many things would change. I just went over it in my mind and D= Ooh, I didn't notice that contrast thing… Shhh! You seem too smart already. I don't actually know what's going to come off of this though. But everything is forming as I write, along with several things to do with Sirius. I really like some of the ideas I'm getting.  
Of course his parents still love him. I wouldn't be able to write Remus' parents being unloving to him. The biting was bad enough. James is a little kid. Wizards are bound to be worried about not going to Hogwarts, so James is definitely allowed to be. One of my friends loves how I'm writing Peter, because everyone makes him out to be all lame and yucky or something but she wants to hug this one.  
I should probably stop with this review comment or it's going to be longer than the chapter, so in reply to chapter two's review; yay, I'm writing my characters well, it seems. Two out of three are correct. It's not the potions rooms. =]


	5. Chapter IV

**Disclaimer: **In no way do I own any of these characters except of the original ones you don't recognise. All other characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I do not mean to cause any problems with her or Bloomsbury Books, etc. This story is simply for people to read and (hopefully) enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter I****V: Secrets**

'_In the dark, in the darkness you will find dirty little secrets we all hide. 'cause we all have a darker side, a place we keep where no one else will find.'_

"AAAAAAH!"

Remus jerked away and crawled to the end of his bed to pull the curtains open.

James stood next to Sirius' bed, laughing loudly and holding a pitcher of water. Next to James, Sirius say upright in his bed, looking furious. His hair was plastered to his face and dripping water. He shook his head like a dog, sending water flying.

"Very original, _Jimmy._"

"Hey!" James said as he wiped his face dry of water. "Don't call me that!"

"Then don't wake me up with a face full of water."

Remus jumped off his bed and walked over to the stand holding cups, where he grabbed one and moved to James. He took the pitcher and poured a cup.

"Morning," he said.

"What's so good about it?" Sirius grumbled.

"I didn't say good morning, I only said morning." Remus frowned and held out his cup to Sirius. "Here, you need it more than me. You look a bit parched."

Sirius glared but took the cup anyway. He raised it to his lips but at the last second he flung his hand out, sending the water flying at James.

"Merlin, that's cold!"

"Yah, now imagine waking up to it."

"What'd I miss?" A sleepy voice asked through closed curtains.

"Nothing, Peter," James said. "Just a bit of early morning conversation."

"Okay…" Peter yawned as he opened the curtains surrounding his bed. "Oh. Classes start today."

"Oh yeah!" Sirius bounced out of bed and grabbed his clothes. "Wait for me before going down, okay?"

And without waiting for a reply, he rushed out of the room to the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, Sirius rushed down the dormitory stairs and crashed into someone.

"Oh, crap." Sirius picked himself off the floor and extended a hand to Peter. "Sorry."

"No, it was my fault," Peter grabbed Sirius' hand and got off the ground. "I was in your way."

"Peter," James placed a hand on the small boy's shoulder. "When an object is moving at a hundred miles per hour, it's hard _not_ to be in its way. Just blame Sirius. It's much more fun."

"If first years need to be shown to the Great Hall," A Prefect announced from by the portrait hole. "I'll be going down in a couple minutes so if you want to come, be ready."

"That's handy," said James. "Come on, there's a couple seats free over here."

Sirius, Remus and Peter walked over to the area James had already moved into while speaking and sat down, Remus and Sirius having a small tussle over who got the cushion and who got the armrest.

"Good morning," a voice floated out from behind a book. "Looking forward to classes?"

The book was closed and placed down on the coffee table to reveal a boy with short dirty blonde hair. He had a splattering of freckles across his nose on which the bridge of round glasses covering grey-blue eyes sat. He was dressed in brand new school robes with the Gryffindor emblem resting over his heart.

"Hey, Les," Remus paused. "It is Les, right?"

"Yeah, it is." The boy replied. "You took your time to get up. I've been up for about an hour."

"It's half seven." Sirius stated. "You've been up since six thirty?"

"You're obviously not an early riser." Les commented.

"No, I'm not," Sirius said. "I'd probably still be in bed but _someone _–" He looked pointedly at James " – thought it would be funny to wake me up with a faceful of water."

Les chuckled.

"Was it you that screamed then? I thought someone might have snuck a mandrake into the common room…"

James' eyes lit up at this and a grin stretched across his face. Sirius saw it and his eyes widened.

"No," he said. "No, no, no. You're not bringing a mandrake into the common room. Their cries _kill_, James."

"Not the seedlings," James countered. "They just knock you out for a few hours."

"Even so," Remus said. "Why on earth would we want to knock ourselves out?"

"Not us," James' grin grew larger. "If we could somehow get one into the Slytherin common room…"

Sirius' eyes filled with the same mischievous look James' held.

"Then we could knock out the Slytherins," Sirius finished. "They'd all miss class and lose house points. That's brilliant! And the greenhouses would probably have some."

"Uh, guys?" Peter entered the conversation. "While this is a good idea, you'd still need the password to the Slytherin common room. And some way to get in without being caught."

"I think I know how to achieve those…"

Before anyone could ask how James would get the password, the Prefect spoke once more.

"Alright, all first years needing help to get downstairs, follow me."

The five first year boys stood up and walked over to the portrait hole. The Prefect, a blonde fifth year waited for one of the first year girls to run upstairs and get a friend before she turned and headed out into the seventh floor corridor. The first years followed and James reached out and tapped one of the girls in front of him on the shoulder.

Lily turned her head to face James and he quickened his pace to walk next to her.

"Yes?" She smiled, and then her expression turned sour when she noticed who wanted her attention. "Oh, it's you."

"'Oh, it's you'?" James repeated. "That's the response I get? Not very welcoming, I'll admit, but I suppose it _does_ have a certain amount of –"

"What do you want?" Lily interrupted. "And it better be good because after how you treated Sev yesterday when you don't even know him… I'm not sure I want to speak to you."

"Well I was going to apologise to you about that," James replied. "But it sounds to me like you don't want to hear it."

"It's not me you should be apologising to." Lily snapped. "If you really mean it, you should find Severus and say it to him."

"Why would I apologise to him? He's a _Slytherin_."

"Well at least he's nicer than you."

And with that Lily walked ahead to join two girls she shared her dorm room with.

"That went well," James said to himself.

"Don't feel too bad," Sirius draped an arm over James's shoulders. "At least you didn't ask her out. You were only rejected from apologising."

"Gee, that makes me feel so much better."

"This might," Remus said. "She thinks you're cute."

James' face brightened.

"She does? How you do know?"

"On the train yesterday," Remus began. "She and that boy, Severus, came into my compartment after leaving yours. That's how I found you guys. She mentioned Sirius and you."

"What'd she say about me?" James asked.

"Umm…" Remus thought for a moment. "She said you're … 'The cute one, with the messy hair.'"

"She likes my messy hair, huh?" James ran his hand through it, worsening his bed head.

"What about me?" Sirius queried, hunting for a compliment. "Did she mention my devilish good looks?"

Remus thought again.

"I think she called you Cereal."

James and Peter burst out laughing.

"I hope everyone has been paying attention to the route." The prefect called. "There are other routes, shortcuts and the like, but I thought I would show you the simplest. Professor McGonagall will be distributing your timetables and school maps. I hope you enjoy your time at Hogwarts and if you need help with anything, don't hesitate to come see me or the other Gryffindor Prefects. Just look for the badges like this one."

She tapped the badge on her robe and then walked into the hall to join her friends. The first years followed.

When the five boys had finished eating (after several jokes about "Cereal eating himself"), they checked the map McGonagall had handed out and left to go back to the common room.

"What's first?" Sirius asked as he searched his trunk for his school bag and books. "Herbology?"

"Yeah," Peter said. He checked the timetable. "In Greenhouse One with Hufflepuff. And right after that is Transfiguration. With Ravenclaw."

"So we'll just need books for those and then it's interval so we can come back and get ready for …" James groaned when he saw the third class they had. "History of Magic with Slytherin."

"Just suck it in, James," Remus said. "They can't be that bad."

"What houses were your parents in?"

"Dad was in Ravenclaw, Mum was in Hufflepuff."

"There you go," James said. "Your parents wouldn't have spoken badly about Slytherin."

"They didn't really speak about Hogwarts to me when I was growing up." Remus commented.

"Lucky," Sirius said. "My parents never shut up about Slytherin's 'greatness.'"

"Why not?" James asked.

"I told you yesterday," Sirius said. "They're complete pureblood fanat –"

"Not you," James interrupted. "Remus."

"Oh."

Remus hesitated before answering.

"Um, they thought –"

He was saved from saying anymore by Les poking head through the door.

"We should probably head down now," he said. "We're bound to get lost a couple times…"

"Yeah," Remus said, thankful the question would be forgotten when they left. "Let's go."

The boys grabbed their bags and left the dorm room. Heading downstairs to the common room, James took the lead and pulled out his map when he had walked through the portrait hole. He set off without waiting for the others.

After a few minutes walking, he stopped at the end of a dead end corridor and looked up with a frown.

"There should be a staircase here…"

"Great, you can't even read a map," Sirius sighed dramatically. "There goes the option of copying your answers…"

"That's frowned upon, you know." The voice seemed to come from no where.

"To you left," it said when the boys looked around for the source.

They all looked up to see a sixteenth century man sitting in an elaborate gold frame.

"There is a staircase there," the man said. "You've just got to know what to say."

"You mean like a password?" Remus asked.

"Eh, yes," the brown haired man said. "I guess so."

"Well what is it?" James asked.

"My, my. You're a bit impatient, aren't you? Where are the niceties?"

James blinked.

"Hello," The portrait said. "Nice to meet you, I'm Henry."

James blinked again and Sirius jumped in.

"Hello," he said. "I'm Sirius, and this is James, Remus, Peter and Les." He pointed to each person as he said their name. "Would you please tell us the password now?"

"Of course, my good boy," Henry said. "The password is _labor lapsus_."

The wall opposite Henry slid open after he spoke to show a dark cavity. After a few steps in, the floor was no longer visible.

James turned his attention away from the wall to look at Henry.

"Thank you," He said and stepped into the darkness.

For the second time that day, a yell sounded in Remus' ears. Henry chuckled.

"Rub the lantern." The portrait said.

Gingerly, Sirius reached up and wiped his hand on the light hanging just next to the stairwell. Instantly, the dark abyss James had fallen into was illuminated when the lanterns on the wall lit up.

"It's not a stairwell," Henry laughed. "It's a slide."

"Well then," Sirius said. "Look out below!"

He sat down on the ground and pushed forward. After waiting for a few moments, Les followed.

"What's the password to make the stairs appear?" Remus asked once Peter had disappeared from sight.

"What do you mean?"

"The map shows it as a staircase, and there does need to be a way up, too."

Henry sighed. "_Escensi_."

There was a grating sound and the smooth surface of the slide broke into sections to form steps. Remus smiled thanks and began walking down the stairs.

"This is the only time I'll do this," Henry called after him.

Remus' eyes widened. "Oh, Merlin."

"_Labor lapsus_!"

* * *

"Remus!"

"Hi Alec," Remus grinned. "How are you? What'd you just have?"

"I'm good, just had Defence with Slytherin. They weren't as horrible as James thinks they are." He frowned. "Speaking of Jimmy, where is he?"

"Coming. He and Sirius wanted to speak to Professor Sprout about what things are in the other greenhouses."

"Really? He's never struck me as the gardener type."

Remus smirked. "Ooh look," he said, changing the subject. "We're going in."

Alec opened his mouth to say something but Remus had already walked into the classroom. Hoisting his bag onto his shoulders, the brown haired boy followed Remus into Transfiguration.

Sliding into a seat near the front, Remus reached into his bag and pulled out a notebook and quill. Alec did the same after a quick glance to the door. He shook his head and flipped the notebook open as Professor McGonagall stood up from her desk.

"Good morning, first years." She said, flicking her eyes around the room, noting the spare seats. "I see we are missing some students already, but as it is the first day I shall make allowances. Next week I will not be so kind and any lateness will result in a detention."

She picked up her wand off her desk and waved it at the blackboard. A piece of chalk flew up and began writing on the board.

"Please copy the notes while I do the roll."

As their teacher read out names, Remus, Alec and Peter, who had slipped in with Les as Professor McGonagall was talking, began writing down the class rules and course outline for the term. It was mostly basic techniques and the kind of transfigurations they would be starting with.

For the second time that day, Remus' teacher looked him over after he answered his name and, once again, the long pause caused the class to look at him.

"What was that about?" Alec whispered after McGonagall resumed the roll.

"Nothing, probably," Remus whispered back quickly. "Maybe she knows a family member and wanted to see family resemblance."

By the time their Professor had finished the roll, Sirius and James still hadn't turned up, nor had they by the time a new set of notes had been put on the board, this time complicated sentences on how to turn a match into a needle. Just as Remus finished writing, the two black haired boys stumbled into class.

Professor McGonagall rose from her seat. "I know this is your first day here, but I have never had students _this_ late."

James looked up from his conversation with Sirius.

"Sorry Miss, uh, Professor, we were speaking to Professor Sprout." He looked around and, seeing the quills in most people's hands, added "It doesn't look like we've missed anything important though."

"Important?" Professor McGonagall flushed. "These notes are very important." She put a match on the desk in front of Remus'. "I would like to see you do this without reading the notes."

"I'll take that as a challenge." James grinned cockily.

He sat down and Sirius sat next to him. Pushing his glasses up his nose, James drew his wand and quickly read the objective and spell. Remus saw Lily lean forward, her face showing her eagerness to see his humiliation when he failed.

"You're not really going to do this," Sirius asked. "Are you?"

With another smile, this time at Sirius, James said the spell with a flick of his wrist.

Remus didn't know what to expect, but when no flash of light or puff of smoke happened, he sat back, slightly disappointed nothing had happened. His teacher's face, however, was the opposite of Remus'. Her face showed amazement.

"I have never – in all my years of teaching –" The elderly witch didn't know what to say. She reached down to James' table and picked up something that glinted in the sunlight streaming through the window.

James smiled apologetically, as if to say he was sorry he was right.

"I did say the notes weren't important."

* * *

"How did you do that?"

It was interval and the five Gryffindor first years were sitting in one of the many courtyards Hogwarts had with Alec and Joseph, another Ravenclaw first year. It was Les who had spoken.

James grinned and took a bite out of an apple.

"Sheer dumb luck," he said, mimicking what Professor McGonagall had said before awarding James twenty house points. "No, my parents taught my basic magic before I came here. I've been able to do that trick since I was nine."

"Whose wand did you use?" Peter asked. "You can't have had your own since then."

"I used Dad's. He didn't mind as long as I did something productive with it."

"I used my father's wand once," Sirius said, absentmindedly twirling a twig between his fingers. "I wanted to clean the window so I could see outside and accidentally destroyed the entire wall."

James laughed, spraying bits of apple everywhere.

"What happened?"

"I could see outside easier."

"I mean with your parents, you puffskin."

"They got so mad." Sirius laughed. "There was a twelfth century tapestry on it that was worth more than what Merlin's wand would be and I blew it to bits."

"Nicely done, Sirius." Joseph laughed. "Nicely done."

"Why, thank you, kind sir." Sirius stood up and bowed. "I do think it was quite expertly done, myself."

"You're quite up yourself sometimes, aren't you?" Remus teased.

Sirius winked at Remus. "Only on days ending in y."

James put his head in his hands and mumbled something unintelligibly.

"What was that?" The Black heir questioned.

"Nothing," James replied. "I was just commenting on how we should probably head up to class now.

"Really?" Peter said. "It sounded to me like you called him a –"

"So, class?" James cut off Peter before he could say anymore. "Shall we go?"

"I think so," Alec stood up and offered his arm to James. "To Oz?"

"Oz?" Joseph asked as James linked arms with his cousin.

"Auntie Emily has a thing for muggle musicals." James answered. "The Wizard of Oz is one of her favourites. For some reason she calls Alec her little Scarecrow." And without another word, the two boys skipped out of the courtyard.

* * *

Remus opened his eyes groggily. It was Tuesday morning, the full moon had passed two nights ago and he was still feeling the effects of a transformation.

He had left the Gryffindor common room on Sunday under the pretence of going to send a letter to his parents and then go to the library to research the topic his History of Magic teacher, Professor Binns, had spoken about. As he expected, the mention of goblin rebellions stopped anyone from following him.

Upon entering the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey ushered him over to a tray of food and made sure he ate it all. When he was finished she had gone over what was to happen in more detail than had been said on the meeting with Professor Dumbledore three months previous.

At six, the Hogwarts Healer had taken Remus down to the Whomping Willow, a tree that lived up to the boy's expectations. As if sensing the approach of two people, it seemed to come to life, the long limbs shook, leaves rustling and bark cracking as it bent in ways it shouldn't. A branch flicked out, twigs snapping off as the hit the ground a few metres from Remus. Madam Pomfrey had quickly levitated a stick and moved it to a knob on the tree that stuck out. As soon as the stick hit the lump of bark, the entire tree had frozen and the two walked to the hole that was barely noticeable between the thick coiling roots. Once inside, Madam Pomfrey showed Remus to the room a four poster bed occupied. She made sure he was comfortable before departing and leaving him to wait for moonrise.

"Madam Pomfrey should be around here somewhere," Remus recognised the voice, but he couldn't place it. "Just sit down over there and… Try not to scratch it."

Footsteps became louder as the speaker walked towards the curtains surrounding Remus' bed. A hand grabbed the material hesitantly and pulled the curtain aside.

"Hey Alec," Remus smiled sleepily. "Have you not heard of privacy?"

"Remus? What are you doing here? Have you been here the past two days?"

"Yeah, I –"

"Excuse me," Madam Pomfrey interrupted Remus' reply. "What are you doing in here? You can't just come along and pull open the curtains of every patient here!"

Alec jumped at the matron's voice. "Hi, sorry. I thought you might be behind the curtain, I didn't think that –"

"Its fine, Madam Pomfrey." Remus said. "He's a friend."

"That still doesn't excuse pulling the curtains open." The healer shook her head. "What are you here for?"

"One of my friends spilt a potion on himself accidentally. He's over there." Alec pointed to someone through the gap in the curtains. "Can I stay with Remus while you heal him?"

Madam Pomfrey sighed. "I suppose. But don't make much noise, he's just woken up." And with that she hurried over to the Ravenclaw boy sitting on the bed opposite.

"So what happened to you?" Alec asked, taking a seat on Remus' bed.

Remus shrugged. "I hit my head."

"And got knocked out for two days?"

"No," Remus answered. "I fell asleep in the library on Sunday and when I woke up Monday morning and realised I was late I rushed to the common room to get ready but I must have slipped because I woke up in here with Madam Pomfrey fussing over me. She told me a student found me and brought me here. I had to stay the night because she wanted to monitor me overnight or something…"

"Oh. Well I hope you're out of here soon," said Alec. "Do you want me to tell the others? They're getting quite worried."

"Yes, please."

A bell sounded and Alec stood up from the bed. "Lunch time," he said. "I'll go tell them now."

Remus leaned back into the pillows as the Ravenclaw grabbed his bag and left the Hospital Wing. He sighed shakily.

'_That,'_ he thought, _'was too close.'_

* * *

**Gah! Such a slow update. I meant to update a month ago but school has been stopping me from writing more. Luckily the holidays are starting next ****week so I'll have lots of time.**

**A huge thank you goes out to everyone reading this story; I appreciate it so much and the days following an update always make me feel special as I get emails of reviews and watch alerts. Keep it up! ^^.**

**Reviews**

**Bottlebrush: **Mm, with Lily we know that she was sorted straight into Gryffindor, from the memories we saw in Deathly Hallows. You need to remember about Severus, with the way Sirius and James, who had already been sorted into Gryffindor, had acted towards him he wouldn't have wanted to be in the same house as them, sleeping in the same room as them, no matter how much he wanted to be with Lily.

Haha! Red eyes, you're right. They only look good on vampires. :B Oh geez, I'm reading the Mortal Instruments trilogy again and I'm now noticing Sirius is quite similar to Jace. (If you haven't read the books and don't know who Jace is, check them out, they're amazing. First book is City of Bones.)

Thanks! The song was so fun to write. I made the mistake of showing it to my English teacher though and it's now going to be put in the year book. Oh, _damn_.

By cold stone room, I meant it looked cold. Not it is cold. Although I suppose the Slytherin common room would be rather cold, being under the lake and all. ^^.

**XxForest-DragonxX: **Yes, there will be pairings. There will be the eventual and obviously needed JPLE and along with RLSB and some CCOC pairings. =]

**Zaziness:** Thank you! Alex is an OC of mine. Yes it is the Slytherin common room.


	6. Chapter V

**Disclaimer: **In no way do I own any of these characters except of the original ones you don't recognise. All other characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I do not mean to cause any problems with her or Bloomsbury Books, etc. This story is simply for people to read and (hopefully) enjoy.

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Chapter **V: Atlanta**

'_Lock your windows and lock your doors, you know she knows all your flaws. Watch out for Atlanta. You better watch out for Atlanta.'_

The first few weeks seemed to speed by. Almost too quickly, Sirius though. Already the first years were feeling the bitter sting of homework, those not used to it forgetting to do it until the last minute, resulting in a scribbled sheet of parchment that barely got a good grade.

Even though it was still early in the year, classes were getting well into the practical work. Transfiguration always brought complicated notes on what the class was doing, what the spell was meant to do and the best way to achieve it, while Charms was nearly completely different. The only notes were the spell and desired outcome, and then it was straight into the spell work. The class was always very loud, as most students chose to have their conversations with friends in between spells, and in nearly every lesson at least one person managed to fail spectacularly with their spell, some accidentally blowing something up or vanishing a book they were meant to make dance. Sirius' favourite mistake so far was when James mispronounced a word and managed to simultaneously cover the room in two feet of snow and dye his hair pink. Professor Flitwick refused to change James' hair back to normal until the snow damage was fixed.

Potions was another story. Down in the dungeons, the classroom was always cold, the thick stone walls keeping the cool air floating around the classroom. The Potions Master, Professor Slughorn, was a cheerful man; it was hard to believe he was the Slytherin Head of House. They had started off with simple things, potions that could be corrected easily if too much of an ingredient was added, and were slowly working up to more difficult things.

Once a week, the Gryffindors head to the tallest tower at Hogwarts for Astronomy with Ravenclaw. Their teacher, Professor Knight, was a rather young teacher, but very passionate about her job. In one lesson, she had spoken about the night skies with such reverence that James had asked if she had centaur blood in her. The Professor's reply earned James a pink horse's tail to go with the hair he had acquired the previous day.

James, Sirius had decided, was having a bad week. James, however, was enjoying it, even asking Professor McGonagall to transfigure him some rabbit's ears. The strict Professor had declined and instead opting to remove the tail.

Defence Against the Dark Arts and Herbology were the only classes the Gryffindors shared with Hufflepuff. In Defence, the class were being taught small defensive spells, starting with a basic shield charm. The Professor had started that lesson by bringing out a basket of walnuts and instructing the class to take four each. The class was then divided into pairs and told to throw the walnuts at their partner, who was to try the spell and not get hit by the flying nuts.

Herbology had the first years in the Greenhouses behind the castle learning about all kinds of plants and their uses, magical or not. The students always left the greenhouses with dirt under their nails and green smearing the white of their school tops.

And finally there was History of Magic, a class that wasn't interesting at all, despite being taught by a ghost. Professor Binns droned on and on about different events in magical history while the students tried to stay awake and write down notes. He didn't notice when students did fall asleep though, and Sirius had dared James several times to throw his book through the teacher on the belief he wouldn't notice that, but it seemed to be the one thing the boy didn't want to do.

James was still stuck on the mandrake idea, but it was still too early in the school year; the mandrakes wouldn't be ready for repotting until October so instead he spent all his spare time thinking up other pranks, the list growing as he learnt more spells and the layout for Hogwarts.

Sirius was just as caught up in the pranks idea. It wasn't uncommon to find the two sitting in a corner together, talking animatedly with a roll of parchment sitting between them.

Peter would join in with input more often than Remus did – something Sirius had noticed on several occasions. While Peter said ideas with only little hesitation before speaking, Remus would wait for everyone to stop talking for a few moments, checking to see if anyone else was going to contribute something, before he said his comments. When he did speak though, he would often point out the flaws in their plans or offer ways to improve the overall outcome of a prank.

It was in their third week at school that the four boys decided to implement their first prank of the year.

* * *

"Come ooooooon, Remus," Sirius whined as they trudged down to the Great Hall. "Walk faster. I want my breakfast and I want it now."

"Do you ever think of anything other than food, Siri?" Remus asked, picking up the pace as he was pushed forward.

"Yes," Sirius answered instantly. "I also think of drinks, and, on occasion, class."

"You mean you actually think of class?" James questioned.

"Don't be shocked," said Sirius, "there's a lot more to me than meets the eye."

"Good thing about that then," James said before rushing out of Sirius' reach.

"Was that an insult? Was he trying to insult me?"

"Not that smart, are you Black? I mean, if you can't even recognise someone saying you're ugly …"

Remus and Sirius turned around. It was Snape, with the other Slytherin first years, that had spoken.

"Go away, Snivellus." Sirius sounded rather bored.

"I'm going to breakfast; you can't stop me doing that."

"I didn't say I was going to stop you doing anything," Sirius's hand moved towards the pocket his wand was in. "However, I could if you wanted me to."

Snape and the three Slytherins he was with had their wands drawn in an instant, the tips glowing slightly as the boys prepared to jinx Remus and Sirius.

"Sirius," Remus muttered out of the corner of his mouth. "Wand, sleeve, now."

The boy cast a quick sideways look at his friend, the wand he had drawn at the same time as Snape in his hand. "What?"

"Just do it."

Sirius slipped his wand up his sleeve quickly, just as the Headmistress's voice rung out across the entrance hall.

"What do you think you're doing?" Professor McGonagall walked up to the first years. "Put your wands away this instant! Five points form each of you, Snape, Greengrass, Pasdar, Mallory. You should know better than to use magic in the corridors."

"But, Miss –"

"No buts, Pasdar. Now inside, all of you."

Professor McGonagall shepherded the students into the Great Hall and the two Gryffindors quickly rushed to their table.

"What happened to you two?" James asked as they sat down.

"The Snakes decided to try curse us," Sirius said matter-of-factly as he buttered his toast.

"Only after you pulled out your wand on them," Remus said.

"He'n shul'ed me," Sirius said around a mouthful of food.

"He what?" Peter asked, wiping some of Sirius's toast off his robes.

"Insulted me. Snape," he added off James and Peter's faces. "Called me stupid."

"We managed to get the Slytherins to lose twenty points though, so something good came off it."

James grinned. "Another reason for them to dislike us today."

"Just today?" Peter asked.

"More than usual, I mean."

* * *

Severus sat at the Slytherin table, pushing single cornflake back under the milk, over and over. The piece of cereal was burnt so it was easy to imagine the yellow and black cornflake as Black's head.

But drowning a fake head was no where near as good as it would be to drown Black in the lake, to push him under and watch him struggle as –

"Sev?"

Severus looked up. "Lily! What are you doing over here?"

"It's time for History of Magic. You ready?"

"Oh, Binns. Goody."

Lily gave a small frown. "Don't be like that. We're starting the Attempted Vampire Revolution of 720AD today. That might be interesting."

"The Attempted Vampire Revolution? Interesting?" Severus smiled. "Don't kid yourself. It will be terrible. It always is."

"Oh well. You still have to go. Come on."

Severus sighed and, with one final shove on Cornflake-Black, stood up and departed the Great Hall with his best friend.

* * *

"Okay, you were right. It was terrible."

Lily's laugh rang out in the corridor, bringing warmth to the castle walls.

Severus smiled. How could laughter warm something? Yet Lily's did. The corridors should be colder as they got closer to the dungeons, but …

'_Stop that thought now, Severus,' _he thought. _'What if the boys in the dorm heard this?'_

"Potions now though," Lily continued. "Bet you're looking forward to that."

"Definitely. Are you?"

"Of course. It's just like cooking."

"So you've made a cake explode after adding too much snakeskin, have you?"

"Ugh!" Lily slapped Severus lightly on the shoulder. "I told you last week, I didn't know you had already added it. Will you just forget about it?"

Severus shook his head. "Nope."

Severus and Lily turned the last corner into the dungeons where the rest of the class was gathering. Professor Slughorn was waiting by the door, listening to Black. Severus walked forward so he could hear what Black was saying.

"… see everyone's skills now, early on in the year. You can obviously set some rules 'nothing dangerous' and 'it needs to be completed by the end of this lesson' things like that."

Slughorn frowned. "I was pretty set on the water purifying potion though, Sirius."

"Yes sir, of course. But think of it this way," Black paused briefly and Severus was amazed that there seemed to be a brain whirring in the Gryffindor's head. "If you marked today's work and then, I don't know, did the same thing at the end of the year, you could see just how much we've improved, how much you've taught us. You know, see how much of an absolutely _wonderful_ teacher you are."

"You've already learnt flattery never fails, I see," Slughorn laughed. "Alright, you win," Black grinned and Slughorn turned to face the rest of the class. "Now, into class everyone!"

"Something's up," Severus muttered to Lily as they walked into class.

Lily took a seat in the middle of the room. "What do you mean?"

"Black. He's planning something."

"Don't be silly, Sev," Lily looked at her friend amused. "He just asked if we could make our own potions today."

"No," Severus shook his head. "Look at him, at _them_, when have they ever sat apart from each other? They're planning something."

Lily looked at the usual spot the Gryffindor boys sat. It was true, only two say there, Potter and Pettigrew. Black and Lupin were on the opposite side, sniggering while setting up their gear.

"Well how about we make something brilliant?" Lily smiled. "Something that will make their potions look terrible."

"Alright," Severus said. And with that he opened his potions book to find a potion suiting the requirements his professor had set on the blackboard.

* * *

"I can't believe Professor Slughorn is allowing this," Remus said, making his way to a free seat.

"I know, right?" laughed Sirius. "Freaking fantastic. This potion better work right. I wonder what'll happen to those in the middle of it."

"Guess we'll have to pay attention to Snape. Perfect position for a central attack."

Sirius looked where Remus had indicated to see Snape shake his head.

"Oh no, poor Lily."

"Hmm?" Remus asked as he began setting up for the class.

"Snape just shook his head. The poor girl probably just got covered in enough grease to deep-fry a turkey."

The two boys couldn't stop themselves from laughing.

"Okay," Sirius said a few moments later. "We should get to work."

* * *

"Can you pass the knife, Pete?"

"Just a moment," Peter scraped off the remaining beetle eyes into the cauldron between James and him and picked up the knife. "It's weird isn't it? Them over there and us here."

James took the knife from Peter carefully. "Thanks. And yeah, very weird. But worth it. How long has it been on the fire for? Three minutes?"

"Yup, should I take it off now?"

"Mm-hmm. I'll be back in a second, gotta get some more porcupine quills."

James stood up and walked down the aisle between tables to the ingredients cabinet at the front of the class. He pulled on the handle and began to open it, only to be stopped by Snape forcing it shut.

"Whatever you're planning, it isn't going to work."

"Go away, Snivellus. Why don't you do something productive?"

"I know you're doing something," Snape said, ignore James' jibe. "You won't get away with it."

"Well if you can get away with never washing your hair, I think I could get away with "whatever I'm planning."

"You won't. I won't let you get away with it."

"Awful paranoid," Sirius said, popping up behind James, "aren't you?" Who said James was doing something?"

"No-one, but look at you all. You never sit apart –"

"Oh yes," interrupted Sirius, "because Remus and Peter having a fight and not wanting to sit near each other is too simple a reason, isn't it?"

"And the stunt you pulled with getting us to make our own potions?"

"I wanted to make my own potion today. Geez, Snivey."

Snape bared his teeth. "Don't call me that."

"I called him 'Snivey", didn't I?" Sirius asked James. "Not 'that.'"

"Yeah, I heard Snivey." James replied, grabbing some porcupine quills from the now open cabinet. "You should get your ears checked, Snivey."

Snape's reply was lost as James rushed back to his seat.

* * *

"Class ends in seven minutes," Professor Slughorn said from his seat at the front of the class. "I suggest you begin finishing up."

Sirius glanced at Remus, who nodded and picked up a small jar of baby unicorn hair. He opened the jar and pulled out a small portion of the golden strands as Sirius glanced over to James, who caught his eye and turned to Peter and said something. Sirius watched as Peter opened a jar with ruby red spheres in them and picked out three.

"Ready, Remus?"

"Just tell me when to drop it."

Sirius nodded to Peter and said "Now" just as Peter dropped the three spheres in his and James' potion. Turning back to Remus, Sirius noticed the unicorn hair sinking into the potion that was quickly turning gold. It began to bubble and the two Gryffindor boys leant back simultaneously. Two seconds later, a golden plume of smoke wafted up from the cauldron, while a red one floated from the other side of the room. The two colours spread, covering the room in dense clouds of gold and red so thick that the ceiling was blocked from view. Slowly, the smoke began to dissipate, the effect of it showing clearly.

The side of the class Remus and Sirius sat on all had golden blonde hair, while those on the same side as James and Peter now had their hair a brilliant shade of bright red. And those in the middle...

The boys involved in the prank burst out laughing, unable to contain it at the sight of Snape. He was looking back and forth between the four of them, glaring daggers while his chequered gold and red hair hung limply.

"Thinking about becoming the mascot for Gryffindor, Snape?" James got out between laughs.

"Black, Lupin, Potter, Pettigrew." Professor Slughorn cut off Snape's comment. "I should take ten points from Gryffindor, from each of you. But, seeing as it was a pretty good potion, I'll only take five from each of you." He turned to Snape. "And you, Snape. Just because I spoke over you, it doesn't mean I appreciate that kind of language. Ten points from Slytherin."

"But, Professor, look what they did! They dyed the hair of the entire class!"

"And did it with style, which is always important. As long as it comes out easily, then there's no harm done."

Snape stood still, his mouth gaping.

"Will it come out easily?" Slughorn asked James.

"Yes, sir. It should fade naturally after a week, but washing it a few times should get it gone faster."

"Alright, I hope the rest of you heard that. Now pack up and place a sample of your potion in a labelled vial on my desk and you may leave."

* * *

"Black! Get back here!"

Sirius stopped halfway up the stairs and turned around. The other Gryffindor boys stopped at the top and turned back to see one of the Gryffindor girls standing angrily at the base of the staircase.

"Atlanta," Sirius said, a little puzzled. "Hi. How can I help?"

"Look at my hair! You made it freakin' red!"

"I made it red? It was James and Peter that made the red potion, not me."

"So? You're the one that wanted us to make our own potions today. You're the one that asked Slughorn if we could. You're the one that convinced him to let us. _You're the reason my hair is now the shade of a Wigtown Wanderer's Quidditch robes!_"

"I don't see what's wrong with that. The Wigtown Wanderers are good team. Not my favourite team, but –"

"I don't care about the Wanderers, Black." Atlanta interrupted, fuming. "My hair is red. Not brown like it should be, but red and you're the reason it is!"

"It doesn't look bad, 'lanta – Atlanta," Sirius corrected hastily as the girl's eyes narrowed. "Really, it doesn't. Have you looked in a mirror yet? You could pass for Lily's better looking twin."

"Don't you dare try flattering me to get out of this, Black. You know, you're just like your father. Blaming someone else and then when that doesn't work resorting to cheap tricks to get out of the situation."

"I am not like my father!" Sirius snapped, suddenly angry. "And who are you to think you know things about my family?"

"Oh, please," Atlanta replied. "It's not like your family isn't known by other wizards. The Blacks are one of the darkest wizarding families in Britain. It's not hard to find out about them. Orion Black, the wizard who cheats on his wife every fortnight, Walburga Black, the witch who considers anyone that isn't pureblood to be an inferior creature, Cygnus Black, imprisoned for cursing twenty-three muggles because he was _bored._ See a pattern? Black by name and Black by nature. I won't be surprised if you end up like them."

"I am nothing like my family." Sirius said through clenched teeth, his fingernails digging into his shaking fists. "Never say that again."

"Or what? You'll curse me? Then you will be like your family, just like the Slytherins. Resorting to curses when things when they don't work out your way."

"Atlanta, stop."

Something about the way Remus said that sentence got the attention of everyone watching. Despite it being barely above a whisper, it carried down the stairs to Atlanta and she looked up.

"Why?" she asked, still angrily but not as much as she was.

"Sirius is right. He's nothing like his family." Remus was still speaking quietly, as if he weren't sure if he should at all. "He hates them. I've met his parents, and even though it wasn't even for five minutes, it was enough to see what they're like, and that's nothing like him."

"That doesn't change my hair back to normal."

"Nor does reminding Sirius what his family is like. Your hair will be back to normal in a week, just leave him alone."

"Fine." Atlanta snapped before rushing up the steps and leaving.

Sirius walked slowed up the last half of the stairs and James walked over to give him a one armed hug.

"Forget what she said, Sirius," James told him. "She's just angry her hair is red."

"She's right though," Sirius said defeated, his usual demeanour gone. "What she said about my family, it's all true."

"That doesn't mean you're like them."

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, James."

"Then I guess we'll just have to pick it up and throw it as far as possible."

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Okays, I think that update took too long. Sorry all of you who have been waiting for ages. And wow, more people putting this down for updates of it. Yay me and thank you all. =]

**Reviews make me happy so please do. =] **


	7. Chapter VI

**Disclaimer: **In no way do I own any of these characters except of the original ones you don't recognise. All other characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I do not mean to cause any problems with her or Bloomsbury Books, etc. This story is simply for people to read and (hopefully) enjoy.

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Chapter

**VI: Full Moon**

'_Watching the night come in from the window, it'll all collapse tonight. The full moon is here again.'_

"I'm leaving after class ends today."

It was the morning of the full moon, and this time Remus had planned in advance what he was going to say. Only it had taken him three days to actually say it.

"What?"

"Where?"

"Why?"

The three questions came simultaneously from James, Sirius and Peter, and Remus allowed himself a grin at the way it sounded.

"I'm leaving after classes end today," he repeated. "It's my father's fortieth and my whole family will be there, so I'm flooing home to join the celebration."

"Oh, well have fun," Sirius said. "Tell him happy birthday from us."

"I'll be sure to," Remus smiled. "I probably won't be back for class tomorrow. My family is pretty loud when they're all together so I'll probably be too tired to floo back in the morning."

"Lucky bugger. Missing a day of school because of partying the night before." James pretended to glare at Remus. "Wish I got to do that."

'_No you don't,'_ Remus thought, _'and I hope you never find out why.'_

* * *

Remus walked cautiously into the Hospital Wing, checking for any drawn curtains. When he saw the coast was clear he walked in completely and sat down on one of the beds, swinging his legs. A few moments later, Madam Pomfrey opened the door to her office and ushered him in.

"Evening, Remus."

"Evening."

He smiled grimly and say down while Madam Pomfrey summoned a house-elf with his dinner.

"Same as last time," Madam Pomfrey said as Remus began eating. "We'll head down when everyone is eating dinner." She paused and looked over Remus with the sympathetic look he was so used to seeing his mother give him before each transformation. "You really are an extremely brave boy, Remus."

Remus groaned. "I really hope that isn't going to become your monthly saying."

"Did I say it last month, too?"

"Yep," Remus smiled around a mouthful of food. "And in June, I think."

"It is true though. You are very br –"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Remus waved a hand at her. "I get it, I'm brave. I'm in Gryffindor, remember? I think I might be aware of that fact."

Madam Pomfrey just smiled and shook her head.

* * *

"I'm gonna be a bit late to dinner; I really need to finish the essay Binns set us."

"Okay, I'll see you down there, then." Joseph walked out the door and began to close it before sticking his head back through it. "Hey, Alec?"

Alec looked up from the half filled parchment in front of him. "Yeah?"

"Don't be too late, or you'll miss all the good stuff."

"I'd much rather finish the essay than get the good food."

"Okay, just means more for me."

"Yeah, you and the rest of the school. I hope you enjoy the one extra pea you get, Joseph."

"Oh believe me," Joseph said, licking his lips, "I will."

Alec threw a book at the door.

Half an hour later, Alec capped his ink bottle and stood up. He walked over to his bag and slipped the roll of parchment into his bag and flicked his eyes towards the starry night sky. The full moon was to rise in about half an hour, he knew from Astronomy class, and the sky looked quite empty without its presence. He was about to turn to the door when a flicker of movement caught his eye from down on the ground.

Two figures were scurrying towards the tree students had begun to call the Whomping Willow. Alec morphed his eyes to the likeness of hawk eyes and the identities of the two people jumped into focus. Madam Pomfrey and …

"Remus?" he whispered.

* * *

"Invisibility," Remus said to the Fat Lady.

"You're a bit behind time," the Lady said. "Password changed this morning."

"It changed?"

'_Of course it changed. Just to stop me from getting to my bed after a hard night of destroying furniture.'_

"Guess I'll have to set up camp here then." Remus said, groaning from a slight pain as he sat down.

"Rough day?" The Fat Lady asked, obviously bored and glad of company.

"Rough night," Remus answered. "Didn't get much sleep."

"Oh, that's a shame. Maybe you should go to bed then."

Remus glared at the portrait. "That's what I'm trying to do, if you haven't realised."

"Oh, that's right. No need for that tone though. I'm sure someone will be along soon. Speaking of which…"

"Remus, what are you doing out here?"

"Just having a pleasant conversation with the Lady here," Remus answered Lily. "Password changed this morning and I don't know it."

"Oh yeah, you were at your house last night, weren't you?" Lily asked, then added "Dawn heard you telling your friends yesterday," after Remus' puzzled look. She turned to the Fat Lady. "Abnormalities."

"Thank you," she said and swung open, allowing the two students to enter the Gryffindor Common Room.

"REMUS!"

The boy mentioned flinched as a black haired blur rushed at him, tackling him. He groaned loudly.

"Please don't do that," Remus winced as he got up into a more comfortable position, pushing Sirius off him. "I … My family know how to party. The after effects… Not so great."

Sirius cocked his head, surveying Remus. "Are you hung-over? Whoa! You are! Your family is awesome!"

"Just help me to bed, I'm still recovering."

"Sure thing, Mr Al Coholic. Oh, and Alec wants to speak to you about something."

* * *

It was three days after the full moon that Remus got around to speaking to Alec. It was interval and the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws had just had Transfiguration together. Alec had taken Remus to an empty classroom and shut the door before beginning to pace up and down an aisle of desks.

"Where did you go on Monday?"

"Did – did the other's not tell you?" Remus swallowed. "It was my father's fortieth so I –"

"They told me that. Where did you actually go?"

Remus tried to swallow again, the lump forming in his throat refusing to go away. "My house, for my father's party."

"Remus…" Alec say down on a desk and looked straight at the Gryffindor boy. "Monday was a full moon, and I saw Madam Pomfrey taking you to the Whomping Willow."

'_No… No, no, no.' _Remus felt tears welling up in his eyes, blurring his vision. _'This can't be happening.'_

"There's a passage running from the tree to Hogsmeade, isn't there? I could hear the howls. Last month, too. And you were in the Hospital Wing after the September moon, as well." Alec paused, unsure how to put his next sentence. "You're a werewolf, aren't you?"

"No…" Remus whispered. He had barely been at Hogwarts for a month and he was already going to have to leave. He felt tears begin to fall. '_My friends are going to hate me,' _he thought._ 'My wand will be snapped, Dumbledore will be fired for letting me come here. This can't be happening. It's not fair.'_

"Oh course it's not fair."

Remus wiped his eyes and saw Alec was now sitting him. He realised he'd said that last sentence out loud.

"It doesn't matter to me, Remus," Alec continued. "You're only one once a month. You're still my friend, no matter what you are."

"I … what?"

"You're my friend, and that's all that counts."

"Yo – you're not going to tell anyone, are you?"

"No. Of course not. I know what it's like to have a secret people would probably hate you for.

"Alec, being able to change how you look isn't like this at all."

"I'm not meaning my ability. Something I can't change about me."

"What?" Remus asked, drying his eyes on his sleeve.

"Don't worry about it."

"You know my biggest secret. 'Fess up."

"Maybe one day, Remus. Maybe one day."

The two boys sat in silence until the bell rang.

* * *

"How are we going to get this potion down to the Great Hall without anyone noticing?" Peter asked.

"With," James paused as he tugged a sheet of material out of his trunk, "this. My dad's invisibility cloak. Well, mine now. It's what we would've used for the mandrake prank had we been able to get a hold of one."

"Your dad gave you an invisibility cloak?" Sirius asked, his voice full of awe and jealously.

"Yep. There's a tradition in my family where each son tries to out do their father's reputation as a prankster. The cloak has been helping for generations."

"Why does everyone get a cool family but me?" Sirius sighed.

"So people have some ammunition to deflate your head with occasionally?"

Sirius ignored Remus' comment and just said "All right, so what's the plan again?"

"In about ten minutes we'll head down to the Great Hall with the potion, all of us under the cloak so no one can point the blame at us. We'll put the potion on the Slytherin benches, test it out and then head back up here where hopefully no one would have noticed our disappearance."

"And then head back down to the Great Hall with everyone for dinner and watch the magic happen." Peter finished for James.

"Do we have to wait ten minutes?" Remus asked, knowing he'd have to go to the Hospital Wing shortly afterwards. "Why not go down now? I mean, some people are probably going to go down a bit early."

"Good point," Sirius said. "Everyone ready to go now then?" Synchronised nods answered. "Let's go then."

Remus grabbed the potion off Sirius' bed and James flicked the cloak over Sirius, Peter and himself.

"Can you see us at all, Remus?" A voice said from nowhere.

"No, you're all good. Still room for me?"

A floating hand appeared and gestured for Remus to move closer. "Come on, we ain't got all day."

"Okay," James said as Remus joined the others under the cloak. "We'll need to move carefully and silently. This only stops sight, not sound or clumsiness. And with that said, let's go."

The four boys set off, moving slowly towards the door of their dorm. They walked down the stairs carefully, one person stepping down a stair at a time. When they reached the base they began moving faster across the partially full common room and exited through the portrait hole. They headed for the main staircase, not wanting to risk getting lost or turned around because of changing walls and passageways.

Every time they passed someone, Remus was amazed as their eyes slid straight through him. After a few minutes of walking through the corridors, the boys had walking under the invisibility cloak in a pattern, thankfully stopping any tripping that had happened at the beginning of their journey.

They reached the stairs and began another slow descent down to the Great Hall.

'_Step, wait, wait, wait. Step, wait, wait, wait.'_ Remus chanted in his head. '_Step, wait, wait, wait. Ste –'_

"AHHH!"

If Remus had been thinking of his fall, it would have been _'head over heels. Head over heels. Arm into wall.'_ But as it happened, he was only thinking of a battering pain he was used to getting after a transformation and the vial of potion slipping from his grip and smashing on one of the stairs. He hit the wall at the base of the staircase and groaned, his body aching from the fall and the pain that already attacked it as the full moon approached. If the transformation tonight didn't kill him, he knew Madam Pomfrey would for being so careless.

He looked up the stairs to see his friends running down the stairs, jumping over the step that now glowed faintly blue, James hastily stowing the cloak under his top.

"Remus! Are you okay?" Sirius skidded to a halt next to the boy who lay groaning in pain.

"Oh yeah," Remus answered. "Just peachy." He coughed, sending a stab of pain to his lungs. "I spilt the potion."

"That doesn't matter, we need to get you to the Hospital Wing. Peter, give me a hand with him."

"No, don't touch him." James drew his wand. "We should touch him as little as possible. Levitation charm should work, but I don't think I could lift him by myself."

Sirius drew his wand and nodded to show he was ready.

"_Wingardium Leviosa!_"

Remus felt an odd weightlessness settle on him as James and Sirius lifted him into the air.

"Welcome to the James Potter and Sirius Black Airways," James said in an announcer-like voice. "Please sit back and relax as you get a free trip to the wonderful Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Hospital Wing. Can I get you anything?"

"Well, I would like a –"

"Just say no, or you can walk." James wiggled his wand, bouncing Remus a little.

"No, sir," Remus laughed, wincing at the pain it brought. "I'm fine, thank you."

Remus closed his eyes and tried to block out the pain as he floated up and down through the corridors.

'_Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy.' _He thought.

* * *

"Oh my, what happened?"

Remus opened his eyes. They'd arrived in the Hospital Wing and Madam Pomfrey was rushing towards him as James and Sirius lowered him gently onto a bed.

"Remus was showing off his acrobatic skills and fell down the stairs."

"He what?"

"I tripped while going down the stairs," Remus said. "I'm in need of fixing.

Madam Pomfrey sighed. "All right, you three, out. You can come see your friend after school ends tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" James asked. "He has to spend the night here, you mean? Can't you just wave your wand and heal him?"

"If it were as simple as that, don't you think I would?"

James bit his lip and cast a worried look at his friend.

"You can see him after school end tomorrow," the Hogwarts Healer said. "No sooner than that though, he will need a lot of rest after that fall."

"Okay… Bye Remus, you better be up and running tomorrow."

"Or what," Remus said, "you'll push me down some stairs?"

James chucked and Sirius walked forwards and placed a hand lightly on Remus' shoulder, a small jolt of static electricity zapping them. He looked Remus straight in the eye.

"If you die…" Sirius took a deep breath. "Can I have your Narnia books?"

"What?" James asked. "No fair, I want them!"

"That's it," Madam Pomfrey said. "Out, I don't want to see you again until tomorrow afternoon."

Sirius sighed dramatically. "If I must." He cracked a grin. "Bye Remus."

* * *

"We're going back tonight," James said as soon as they were out of earshot from the Hospital Wing. "We can't leave him alone for the whole night."

"And we're going to get to him how, James?" Peter began climbing the stairs. "After curfew and we won't be allowed to see him."

"That's what the cloak is for."

"According to you, the cloak is for everything."

"Exactly, it's James's Potter's Multipurpose Invisibility Cloak. Never leave the home without it."

"Well I'm in," Sirius said. "How about you Peter?"

"Okay," Peter said. "Uh… Should that step still be glowing?"

The three boys stopped a few steps away from the stair Remus had dropped the potion on. It was still a faint pulsing blue, a sign that showed the potion was still working.

"I think so," said James slowly. "I think the potion book be got it from said that anyone who sees it glowing in the first thirty seconds or something like that will always be able to see it. So we'll be able to see what step it is, but no one else will."

"Handy," Sirius commented. "Should we test it out?"

"Might as well."

James walked up the few steps between him and the glowing one and picked up the remaining pieces of vial. He dropped them above the stair and they fell straight through it.

"It's a shame we didn't do that to the Slytherin benches," Sirius walked up and swung a foot through the step, "since it worked so well."

"I think its better we did it to this, actually," Peter said from behind James. "The benches would be fixed by the Professors quickly, but they might not bother with this."

"You're right," James' eyes sparkled with delight. "And students use this staircase daily, so when people are still learning about it… We're gonna have to thank Remus for this."

* * *

"Sirius, wake up!"

The whisper came with a shake. The shake came with a feeling of confusion. Was it morning already? It couldn't be, it was too dark.

"Oh, this is ridiculous. _Lumos_!"

Bright. Very bright. Too bright.

"Get that out of my face." Sirius groaned.

"Wake up and I will." James whispered back. "We're going to see Remus now, you coming or not?"

Sirius groaned and rolled out of bed, landing with a thunk on the floor. He searched the floor until he found his trunk and pulled out his dressing gown.

"Alright, I'm up," he said. "Let's go."

"Your dressing gown is on backwards."

Sirius looked down and blinked sleepily. "It's the new trend, let's go."

"Right. Peter, grab the cloak, we'll put it on downstairs."

James walked to the door, opened it slowly and slipped out. Peter disappeared from sight under the cloak before, Sirius assumed, following James. Sirius exited the room, stumbling half awake into the door frame.

"Ow."

* * *

They made it down to the Hospital Wing without running into anyone, Sirius having woken up enough to be aware of his surroundings by the time they'd left the Common Room. They walked quietly into the room, not noticing what was wrong until the reached the bed they'd left Remus on.

He was gone.

The boys looked around. The rest of the beds in the room were empty, their curtains drawn back to reveal the sterile sheets and too hard pillows, leaving no place for their friend to be.

James pulled off the cloak and walked closer to the bed to look out the window.

"Where is he?" Sirius asked, not expecting an answer.

James turned to face Sirius and Remus.

"Professor Knight said it was going to be a full moon tonight, didn't she?"

"I think so," Peter said. "Why?"

"Remus has been gone for at least one night each month." James said slowly. "Around the full moon…"

"You're not saying he's … He hasn't been gone every month…"

"Yes he has, Sirius. In September he said he banged his head after Alec found him in here. In October he said he had his father's birthday. Last month he claimed his mother was sick and that there's the chance of her getting that illness again and now this. Don't you think it's a bit odd that he's gone each month on the full moon?"

"But he can't be … He's just Remus," Sirius swallowed. "Not a …"

"What are you trying to say, James?" Peter asked. "That Remus is a … A werewolf?"

James flicked his eyes to the silver orb hanging in the night sky and back to his friends.

"I'm say it's something to consider."

"So what do we do?"

"Wait until the next moon, see if he disappears again."

"The next moon is a blue moon, on the 31st." Sirius said. "He's probably going home for Christmas break."

"So we wait for the January moon," James replied. "Will you both be able to act normal around him for the next … Sixty days?"

"He's still the same person," Peter said quietly. "Shouldn't be too hard…"

"Good. Sirius?"

"Yeah," Sirius said, absentmindedly massaging his left arm. "Of course."

"Good," James repeated. "Now lets get back to bed before we get caught."

* * *

"Morning, Remus." Madam Pomfrey brought a tray of food over to the bed he lay in. "Want to know something interesting?"

"Okay," Remus took a sip of the steaming hot chocolate and leant back against his pillows.

"When I was healing you I noticed you weren't as rundown as you usually are. How are you feeling?"

Remus swallowed a mouthful of scrambled eggs. "Better than I'm used to, this close to a 'moon. Could it be because of your healing me yesterday?"

After James, Sirius and Peter had left the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey had gotten two potions and fed them to Remus before beginning a long and complex sounding spell. She then left him as the potions kicked in; making Remus drowsy and the pain he felt go away. When he came back around, less than an hour had passed but every injury from the stairs was no longer there. Madam Pomfrey's telling his friends that it would take all night, Remus had realised, was simply so Remus wouldn't have to make up a lie for his absence.

"Like some of the spells lingering, you mean? It's a possibility, but not very likely."

"Why not?"

"Because they aren't the kind of spells to stay around after they come into affect. Did you do anything yesterday you don't usually do?"

"I fell down some stairs, if you don't remember."

"Other than that?"

Remus frowned, trying to remember the previous day.

"Does static electricity count?"

"Don't be daft. So you can't think of anything?"

Remus shook his head.

"Okay," Madam Pomfrey sat down in the seat next to Remus' bed. "Now about the next moon, will you be home for it, or are you going to stay at Hogwarts for break?"

"I'll be home for the holidays." Remus finished his breakfast and pushed the tray away.

"Alright. Would it be fine for me to come by the morning after? It may help me to see how your parents heal you and the like."

"Yeah, that should be fine." Remus yawned. "S'all right if go to sleep now?"

"Of course, have a good sleep."

**

* * *

**

Hehe. Sleepy Sirius is fun to write. And when I wrote Peter going under the invisibility cloak, I couldn't help but imagine him zooming around the common room, pretending to be an invi**sible aeroplane or something. :3  
**

**Two updates in**** just over a week. Hopefully this makes up for the lack of updates over the past couple months.**

**Reviews make me very happy; so please write one. :]**


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